A New Path
by Tequoia
Summary: What will happen to the blonde hero and the Hyuga heiress when a young Hinata takes a chance and approaches the village outcast after he saves her when they are both still kids? With this connection that they both share, Naruto and Hinata take their first steps down A New Path, together.
1. A New Path

**Posted: Sept 2 2015**

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A small fragile Hyuga had just run into the wrong group of people.

"Hey!" the tallest of the three said, pushing the girl back.

"She's a Hyuga isn't she... "one of them pointed out, assessing her as she hugged herself, scared. "Yeah, she's got those eyes."

The last of the bullies grunted, "She must be Neji's cousin then."

"And she's probably stuck up like him, too," one said, finding a reason to cause trouble.

Nodding, the fat bully reasoned, "Yeah, bet she thinks she's better than us, 'cause of her family and talent."

The three surrounded and intimidated the poor Hinata, who had been running away in shame after losing a fight with Hanabi. Looking down at the ground, she quietly squeaked, "No... I'm not like that at all, I swear..." She then tried to run off.

"Hey!" one of the bullies yelled as he grabbed her, "get back here!" The girl was pulled back squealing, denied her escape.

Huffing triumphantly, the fat bully taunted, "trying to run without telling us that you're sorry huh? That's not cool"

The poor girl was shaking and remained looking down at the ground as the other bully scoffed at her, boasting, "Yeah that's right!"

Then the third bully grabbed her by the head and forced her down. The blue-haired girl was defenseless and trembling in fear at this point, wishing it would all stop.

"Go on, apologize."

"Yeah, and be nice about it too!"

"Do it, now!"

Terrifed, the young girl yelped out in a tiny voice, "I'm sorry..."

"Not good enough!" he said displeased. "Say it like you mean it!"

Grabbing her head again, the fat bully forced her down even more. "Apologize!" he demanded forcefully.

"I'm sorry..." Tears were falling down her eyes. "I'm sorry..." Desperation, sadness, fear... "I'm sorry..." She was so scared... She wanted to die. She just wanted this to be over.

"Knock it off!" a short kid with spiky blonde hair yelled.

Looking behind them, the bully's saw a blonde haired little boy with blue eyes. "And what the heck do you want?!" one of the bullies questioned, annoyed at the sudden appearance of this shorty.

"Hey wait," the fat bully said, "he's that kid, that kid that is always getting into trouble."

"That kid everyone hates." Naruto's face tightened at this comment.

The other two bullies faces lighted up in realization. "Oh 'that' kid."

"That kid huh?" They all erupted into laughter, seeing the village clown.

Rage surfaced on the young blonde's face immediately, angry at them for referring to him as 'that kid'. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm going to be Hokage one day, dattebayo!"

The three were all confused. "Hokage?" they said aloud, questioningly, before returning to their uncontrollable laughter.

Hinata looked on in awe. She had seen him before, running away from people who were yelling at him for painting their shops as part of a prank.

One of them looked at Naruto with spite. "Some kid like you, could never be Hokage!" he said, slamming his fist into the boy and knocking him into the dirt.

After taking a moment, he rose up from the ground, wiping his face off and grinning at the group. "Heh!"

Angry, one of the bullies demanded, "You wanna fight?!"

Naruto only smiled. "You better not, or you'll regret it!" he claimed as he put his hands up into a sign which worried the three bullies.

"Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed.

A fog of smoke exploded out of the area, and a clone appeared. It awkwardly fell to the ground after bobbling around for a moment.

"Hahahahaha!"

Naruto used this opportunity to strike. "Hah! I caught you off guard didn't I?" he shouted as he tackled one of the bullies to the ground, delivering fierce punches against him. "You just watch!" he yelled with determination. "I will become Hokage!" S _mack!_ "I'll show all of you!" _Punch!_ "I'll prove you all wrong!"

Finally, the other two bullies pulled Naruto off the third and they all started attacking him viciously. "Get him!" one of them said, launching his fist straight into Naruto's skull.

They proceeded to kick and slam him mercilessly in retaliation. After only a moment the blonde was bruised and bleeding as Hinata watched solemnly. _'This is my fault...'_ she thought to herself, horribly saddened by the fact this boy who hardly knew her rushed to her defense and is now getting beat up! She sunk even deeper into herself, feeling useless and powerless to help him.

"Hah!" one of the bullies exclaimed with a kick to Naruto's ribs. "That'll teach you to mess with us!"

After perhaps twenty more seconds of sustained beatings and tauntings, one of the bullies delivered a sharp stomp, causing the blonde to cough up a bit of blood. "Heh, this guy's had it, let's get out of here." The other two huffed, before kicking the helpless kid one more time and stomping off with the last bully.

Hinata was so relieved to see them finally go. She looked over toward the beaten Naruto and her heart shattered. She shed a few tears for the boy who risked himself for her, this boy rushed in to defend her and now he was broken, bleeding on the ground...

 _'I need to help him...'_ she thought, slowly crawling over to his side. Looking over his body she teared up, realizing this was all her fault.

Groaning, which startled the Hyuga, he pushed himself up. Taking in his surroundings, he figured the bullies had left. Looking to his right he saw the blue haired girl almost kneeling over him, concern spread clearly across her features. After quickly wiping his face off he smiled, "Hah! I sure showed them didn't I?" he said exuberantly.

Smiling and blushing, she nodded to him, but remained concerned for his well being.

"Hey..." he said more quietly. "Are you okay?" he questioned, worried because she was so quiet.

Hinata looked toward Naruto and found herself staring in amazement. This boy was asking her if she was okay! "Y-you just got h-hurt!" she said, rather loudly for her usual meagerness. "Are _you_ o-okay?" she finished stuttering.

Sporting a stupid grin, he immediately responded, "If I couldn't handle that, there's no way I could become Hokage!"

She was astounded at how he could claim something like that while he was covered in dirt and some blood was still running down his chin.

Thinking she was still worried about him, he announces yet again, "Hey I'm fine, dattebayo!" He notices she is still looking down at the ground and he twists his face in contemplation. Deciding that maybe since he helped her, he could ask something.

"Hey," he started slowly, "did you maybe... wanna be friends?" he asked unusually quietly, his voice tinged with hope.

Instantaneously, Hinata's head popped up in surprise. She brought her hands up and starting poking her index fingers together subconsciously and a blush spread across her face. She slowly began nodding her head, much to Naruto's glee.

Naruto then snatched the small girl in a crushing hug that she was not prepared for. "Yeah!" he exclaimed happily. "We'll be the best friends ever! Dattebayo!"

 _'Friends...'_ That thought made Hinata extraordinary happy. She had made a friend! Though, she was about to pass out from the closeness, she was still happy...

"Hinata!" a familiar voice ringed in the distance, worrying the Hyuga girl.

Naruto let go of her and looked behind himself to see another person with the same eyes as her new friend.

Hinata's heart sunk, seeing who it was. It was her caretaker, Ko, surely sent to retrieve her.

"Hinata!" he exclaimed, approaching her and grabbing her hand. "You mustn't associate with that child!" he said disapprovingly.

Worried about her new friend, she pleaded, "Wait!"

Pulling her along, Ko reaffirmed, "We must go!"

"But..." her face fell. "He helped me..."

All Naruto saw was his first and only friend being dragged away from him mere moments after becoming friends with her...

Kicking the dirt and walking away, he was saddened. He didn't even learn her name... "No one would want to be friends with me anyways..." he whispered to himself as he slowly strolled away.

Next Day

To him, any attention was good attention. That's why he pulled so many pranks, because he wanted someone, anyone to notice him. To acknowledge his existence.

But, what if he actually made a real friend... Someone who he could actually... be himself with?

He thought about that as he was swinging on his lonely swing over by the academy. He always returned here when he was feeling alone or sad. He would look at the kids who had parents, the kids who would play with other kids. He wished so desperately that he could be like that... He wanted someone to play with, someone to tell him how great he was...

 _'No one would want to be friends with me anyways...'_ he remembered saying yesterday, after he had helped that girl and she was escorted away.

So there he was... alone... by his little swing, going back and forth...

A bit behind him, behind a different tree was Hinata, looking on, or rather, stalking the boy. She had felt so guilty leaving him yesterday... It absolutely tore at her heart to pieces.

 _'Naruto...'_ she wondered to herself.

Suddenly, the creaking of the swing stopped, and Hinata refocused and looked at what happened. What she saw made her even more sad.

He had stopping swinging, but was still holding the ropes, looking straight down, obviously deep in thought.

Hinata with her keen vision saw it though. Tears. He was crying. She brought a hand up to her chest, squeezing at her heart in worry.

 _'It's not fair!'_ he thought, _'It's not fair...'_

It truly wasn't in his mind. He had lost his one and only friend mere moments after meeting her. No one in this world would ever care for him... His parents even abandoned him.

Tears slipped out through his clenched eyes as he hunched over on the seat.

He wanted to be Hokage because he wanted people to acknowledge him, to care. If he had just one person to care about him he would... be... so much happier...

 _'I'd be the best friend ever...'_ he thought to himself, _'I would do_ anything _for that person...'_

He would truly do anything in the world for that one person who would be with him through this nightmare called life.

What else would a kid, an orphan with no friends or family to call his own even want?

He shook a little with his own emotions.

Shedding a few more tears, he began to break down. There was only so much he could handle. The pain of the world was real, and it was eating away at his lonely and cold heart. He was tired of being denied what the other kids got. Why did they get it and he did not? It wasn't fair! Shedding a few more tears, he let his cracked voice slip.

"I just want... someone to love me..."

He said it. Ever so quietly, but the heiress could still hear it. Her pale, lavender eyes widened when she heard him say that to himself...

He had never known the love of any mother or father, no one had ever cared about him. He had been alone since he could remember and he was so tired...

 _'No!'_ Hinata willed, _'I have to do something...'_

Slowly willing up courage, she began to stumble over to Naruto while he was on the swing. He had been so far entrenched in his thoughts that he didn't notice the girl slowly stagger toward him.

Her face turned tomato. She had successfully appeared behind him... what was she supposed to do now...

This would later turn into the beginning of various defining moments in both of their lives, the new path that they would take, _together_.

Mustering up the courage, she pulled out her hands and put them on Naruto's back, and then she pushed him!

Startled by the unexpected contact, he looked behind him as he was pushed on the swing and to his absolute amazement, he saw her. It was the girl from yesterday! His expression immediately turned to one of joy, which caused the girl to redden up even more.

When he returned back, she pushed him again.

He couldn't contain his smile and surprise. "Hey!" he greeted jubilantly.

Pushing him again, she quietly responded, "Hi..."

He eventually settled into it, and a stir of emotions were going through him, he was happy! His new friend was pushing him on the swing! This was a dream for him that was becoming reality...

They stayed like that for a couple minutes in the calm, serene wind. A moment of tranquility for the both of them.

Hinata couldn't believe that she was doing this... She was actually pushing Naruto on the swing! She had... mustered the courage to help him, like he helped her...

"Hey I..." he started quietly, snapping Hinata out of her thoughts. "You never told me your name..." he whispered as he was being gently pushed on the swing.

Naruto heard a small mumble that he couldn't make out. "Huh?"

"Hi-hinata..." the girl behind him said meekly

Naruto's face lit up. "Hinata... that's a pretty name, dattebayo!" He then jumped off the swing, surprising the girl who instantly brought her hands up to her chest, startled.

Grinning with a new idea, he told her, "Why don't ya let me push you?" He was so… happy, she noticed, before her face went red.

Naruto noticed the odd coloration of her face but disregarded it. "Get on!" he exclaimed happily.

She didn't quite know how to deal with this situation, poking her index fingers subconsciously again. She then stepped over to the swing and sat on it.

After firmly grasping the ropes, she was actually really nervous.

Amazed at seeing the girl actually get on the swing, he was excited to actually push someone else on it. "I've always wanted to push someone on this swing!" he said that while slamming into the girl, quickly pushing her forward on the swing.

"We'll be the best friends ever! Dattebayo!" he exclaimed happily.

For Hinata, it was a crazy circumstance she was in. She was soaring up into the air! He pushed her really hard, and he kept going and going. She was holding on so tight she could swear her hands were biting into the rope.

"Hahahaha!" the blonde laughed, looking at his friend's figure that was dangling far up before coming back down, just so he could push her up again! _'This is a lot of fun!'_ he realized. His heart was warming up from the cold isolation that it was in moments ago.

"Ahh!" Hinata squeaked after being sent really high up into the air.

Seeing this, Naruto smiled, and began to slow her down to a stop.

Her heart had finally calmed down from the event, but in an instant Naruto was in front of her, grasping her in a big hug.

"That was really fun wasn't!" he asked in surreal happiness.

All she could do was nod her head at the boy who was holding her tight and causing her to get light headed from so much blood rushing up to her face.

Noticing the discoloration appear again on his friend's face, he decided to ask her what was going on. "Are you okay?" he asked with a questioning look on his face. "Your face is really red! Are you sick?!" he kept questioning in concern.

She shook her head no, but the redness in her cheeks stayed.

Looking away from her blood red face, he looked into her eyes. They were so... pure... He found himself drawn into them and both could not look away from the other. They were lavender opals... precious jewels...

Scratching his head in embarrassment, he told her, "Your eyes... they're really pretty..."

 _'Nani?!'_ she thought as her eye's widened. Her mind could hardly comprehend the thought going through her head and she fainted in his arms.

"Hinata!"

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A/N

I decided to use the flashback with the bullies that appeared during the Pain fight, not the flashback that happened in The Last.

I have a lot of changes planned for Naruto and Hinata in the future. This story will definitely not just be about Naruto and Hinata meeting up earlier then they do in canon. Though, that is also what is happening. :P

Stay tuned.


	2. The Offer

**_If someone posts a review asking about something or if it's long I'll put a response in at the bottom of the chapter! Check back if the chapter is still the latest of the story to see my responses to reviews!_**

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 **Posted: Sept 4 2015  
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1 Year later

Heavy breathing and some bruises were the results of today's training.

Naruto and Hinata were practicing taijutsu in a small park near the academy. That's right, they were now official students of the Konoha Ninja Academy.

"Not bad!" The blonde, eight-year old academy student told her.

And by 'Not bad' he actually meant he had gotten brutally destroyed by Hinata's clan technique, the Gentle Fist. The only redeeming quality of the spar was the fact that Naruto could recover really fast, allowing him to get back into the fight faster than anyone else could.

Still, Naruto reasoned, Hinata is scary in an actual fight.

It was hard to actually get her to hit anything though, she was as peaceful as a fawn. After a solid year of talking her into it, she actually started to really spar though!

"I think..." he groaned, pained by his sore muscles. "We can take a break!" he punctuated by falling down on his butt and resting on the grass.

Giggling, the heiress grabbed her lunch box and skipped over to Naruto and took her own seat. She pulled out freshly prepared bento boxes and handed Naruto one, which he graciously accepted.

"Arigatou!" the hungry Naruto exclaimed, devouring his delicious food. Sighing contently, Naruto praised her cooking, "You always make it so good!"

The compliment causes her face to burn, even though she's gotten better at it.

They always hung out now, whenever Hinata wasn't busy with her clan. He never liked them, from what he heard of them. They always put her down and ruined her self-esteem. Nope, he didn't like them one bit.

Hinata though... Hinata was amazing! Thinking back to the day after they met he smiled...

1 Year Ago

 _'She's really light...'_ Naruto thought to himself.

She had randomly passed out when he hugged her! It was crazy! He hoped she would wake up soon though. He looked down to the girl he was dragging in his arms and he smiled...

 _'My friend...'_ he thought happily.

He figured he would put her up against the tree and wait for her to wake up. He sat down next to her, thinking about what just happened. He thought she would forget about him! But... she actually came back to him... She wanted to be his friend!

He noticed her wiggling around uncomfortably and figured she was coming to.

"Hey!" Naruto practically yelled in front of her face, startling her awake. "How ya doin' sleepyhead?" he asked her jokingly.

Hinata blushed again at the close proximity.

Smiling that she's obviously okay, Naruto sits down next to her along the tree before resuming. "I'm really glad you're my friend, dattebayo!" he said cheerfully, without a care in the world.

Poking her fingers together again, she quietly responded, "I am t-too..."

The silence that followed wasn't even awkward because of the peace the two experienced together... Naruto was thinking wildy though, as he always does, he glanced over at Hinata, who appeared to me in as deep of thought as he was.

"Hinata..." Naruto said more quietly than he usually does. Hinata tilted her head over to him, expecting a response. Those cute eyes distracted him and he naturally started scratching the back of his head, which made Hinata giggle. "Why did you umm..." he said, almost to himself. "Why did you want to be friends with me anyways?"

Naruto was used to doubt. Behind his confident exterior he was always afraid of what would happen next. Fear of the unknown when nothing in your life was certain was intense. Having something positive happen to him also made him afraid that he would lose it.

Blushing furiously, as well as poking her fingers together, Hinata meekly responded, "Y-you saved me... N-naruto-kun..." She was honest, even if she subconsciously added the 'kun' honorific.

Smiling like a doofus, he instantly replied, "If I didn't save an innocent girl I could never become Hokage!"

"W-well..." she whispered just loud enough for Naruto to hear her, "You were s-so... b-brave" She began to tear up again with such emotional thoughts. "Y-you came and helped m-me... some person you d-didn't even know..." she said softly.

Naruto didn't know whether to be happy, because he was being praised, or sad because she was being so quiet...

A tear fell down her left eye as she recalled losing to Hanabi and subsequently shamed by Hiashi. "I-I wish... I could be l-like that."

Naruto's eyes widened at that statement. This girl wanted to be like him? The loud, obnoxious kid that everyone hated?

Putting her arms around herself, she cried even more. "My f-father... says I am a d-disa... disappointment to the c-clan..." Naruto's face tightened in anger at hearing those words. "A-and my sister, H-hanabi, hates m-me too..." she finished quietly.

Naruto, feeling so sad for his new and only friend went up to her and hugged her. He heard that's what people do when make someone happy. He didn't want her sad, he wanted her to be happy! "It's okay..." Naruto said with his arms around the quivering, crying little girl. "You don't need those people!" he said, obviously angry.

Hinata looked up to him with wide, teary eyes and an open mouth. Utterly in awe of what the blonde boy was saying to her right now. Naruto was creating more lasting impressions than he ever knew he would at this moment in time.

Hugging her tightly, Naruto growled angrily, "We don't need anyone else..." he paused, "just the two of us is fine." Hinata had never felt so safe and content in her entire life on this planet. Melting into the hug, she sighed happily, with a different kind of tear, a happy one, running down her face.

He could tell he lightened up her mood, and that made him so glad to think he could do that to her. He pulled away from the hug, and then he put his hand in front of Hinata. "I'll be your best friend..." he uttered, "forever..."

The feeling for Hinata, to have someone say something like that to her, was positively divine. She looked at the hand he was seemingly offering to her. Her cheeks burned, but she slowly brought up her own hand and joined it with his own.

Naruto smiled at the girl in front of him. "We'll get stronger together! Dattebayo!" he exclaimed boisterously, raising their conjoined hand even further into the air.

Present

Thinking back to that day, as well as all the days in between then and now brought a gigantic grin to the Uzumaki's face. He took another bite out of the bento she made and glanced over to her. He was truly content right now.

2 Years later

 _'This SUCKS!'_ Naruto internally groaned. Chakra control was a bitch!

Another strange, floppy creature of a clone collapsed to the ground, again. "This is impossible Hinata!" he complained. He had been trying to do this for years now, and he still couldn't make a solid clone.

Giggling, Hinata put her hands into sign.

 _Poof!_

A perfect clone... Naruto sighed. "How do you do it!" he questioned, annoyed at himself for his inability to do this basic technique.

Smiling, Hinata gracefully told him, again, "F-focus Naruto-kun!" she urged. "Try closing your eyes and focusing i-inwardly," she told him.

Frowning a tad, mostly at himself, he closed his eyes. She was always so patient with him... and she's never been angry with him... _'Gah!'_

There he went again, thinking about her.

 _'I gotta focus... alright...'_

"Clone... Jutsu!"

 _Poof!_

A Solid Naruto appeared!

Naruto stared on in amazement at his creation. It didn't awkwardly fall apart like any he's done before... He did it!

He did it!

He d-

 _Flop_

 _'Fuck!'_ he cursed to himself. He almost had it though! "I can do this! Dattebayo!"

Hinata only giggled again.

3 Years later

A little before graduation

"Class, what I want you to do this time, is make a selection on this piece of paper I am going to give you," Iruka spoke loudly, so that everyone would hear him. "If the world was going to end today, who would be the person you want to be with last?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the task, an unusual assignment indeed. Sighing as there was actually no one he cared about, he wrote Itachi, figuring that it would be an opportunity to avenge his clan before the world ended.

A bit behind Sasuke was Naruto and Hinata, who blushed and looked at each other, then promptly looked away, both with red faces. They wrote what they were obviously going to and continued with the rest of the day.

 _Ring!_

"Hinata!" Naruto said among the group of students preparing to leave, "Wanna go to the swing again?!" he asked excitedly, grinning when Hinata nodded. They walked out of the academy and strolled over to the swing and they both sat together on the grass by the tree.

Blushing a little, Naruto really felt he wanted to say it. "I..." he paused nervously, "I'd want to be with you if the world was ending, Hinata...chan"

Hinata's head peaked up at hearing that... _'Naruto-kun...'_ she thought to herself. Kami! Her cheeks were on fire! She had to say something though... "I..." she swallowed, poking her index fingers again, "I f-feel the s-same w-way Naruto-k-kun..." she struggled so hard to say.

Naruto smiled, she almost never stuttered anymore, so she's as nervous as he is... Maybe it was selfish but... He saw the way some of the girls acted with some of the boys in the academy... He wanted that with Hinata, he wanted to be more than friends with her. The blonde, blue eyed Uzumaki shifted a little, grabbing Hinata and pulling her toward him a little so they were facing each other.

 _'Kami! Kami! Kami!'_ Hinata thought, her face turning crimson...

Naruto leaned his head in toward her, ever so slowly. They both could hear the bristling of the leaves in the wind now, their senses supremely sharp. Time seemed to slow down as Naruto inched toward Hinata.

Losing some of his nerve, Naruto stopped. "Is this..." he asked with a doubtful voice, "okay?"

Hinata realized this is really what she wanted even if it was embarrassing, so she slowly nodded in confirmation. _'Please don't faint...'_

Swallowing for courage, he resumed.

Pulling Hinata into an embrace, he moved his mouth to hers.

Hinata's eyes fluttered as their lips met in beautiful contact.

They stayed like that for at least for as long as their lungs allowed.

Separating from the kiss, Naruto smiled such a great smile, and Hinata buried her face into his chest out of embarrassment.

Sighing contently, Naruto looked up to the sky while holding Hinata in his arms. He softly closed his eyes, but still, all he saw was her.

2 Months later

Graduation

Looking over his prized students with a fatherly smile Iruka Umino was truly proud. "All of you pass!" he announced to the class.

Naruto bounced out of his seat in glee, "YEAH! I DID IT!" he screamed, happy he passed. Hinata just smiled in the seat next to him.

Iruka didn't even attempt to shut him up this time, letting him have his moment.

10 Minutes later

"I'll see you later Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, as her Father was picking her up for her graduation.

"Hey!" Naruto heard behind him. Turning around, he saw Mizuki-sensei, leaning against a wall.

Faking his smile, Mizuki began, "I heard you passed Naruto!" he mock congratulated.

Scratching his head, Naruto replied, "well yeah! Hinata-chan helped me a lot with the clone jutsu! And... everything else..." he said laughing.

"Haha!" Mizuki 'laughed'. "Well, what if I told you there is a way you can guarantee she'll be on your team?" the chunin asked.

That really got Naruto's attention. " _Nani?_ "

Coming off the wall Mizuki smiled before starting, "Well..."

4 Hours later

Naruto was rushing away with a gigantic, over-sized scroll. This was a little strange, he had to admit. Sneaking into the Hokage's office and taking this big scroll was a bit crazy. Some kind of 'extra credit' that was going to allow him to pick his teammates, so he'd be able to choose Hinata! Dattebayo!

He was waiting by the swing now, for Mizuki-sensei to show up for the scroll.

Tapping his feet a bit in impatience because Mizuki-sensei still wasn't here, he kept glancing at the big scroll that was sitting next to him, he finally sighed.

He figured why not.

Slowly unraveling the scroll, he looked at the first jutsu there.

 _Kage Bunshin_

Naruto saw a variant of the clone jutsu and he stuck his tongue out in disgust, he definitely did _NOT_ want to do anything with clones after struggling for years with the standard clone. He actually managed to pass the clone test, so now he wanted to never have anything to do with clones again. He skipped onto the most advanced jutsu to see if he could snag anything cool.

 _Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei_

 _S-rank_

 _Resurrect the dead through use of residual DNA and the use of a sacrificial body to hold the returned soul._

 _Tiger Snake Dog Dragon Clap Hands_

 _Forbidden_

Naruto's eyes bulged out of his skull at what this crazy jutsu did. He eventually decided _against_ raising the dead.

Reading further on, he noticed a lot of strange jutsu.

 _Shiki Fūjin_

 _S-rank_

 _Invoke the power of the Shinigami to seal away the target's, as well as the caster's soul for all eternity within the Shinigami's stomach._

 _Snake Boar Ram Rabbit Dog Rat Bird Horse Snake Clap Hands_

 _Forbidden_

 _'Holy shit!'_ Naruto thought. _'This is crazy!'_ He decided though, that he would rather _not_ seal away his own soul within the Death God's stomach for all eternity.

Looking on a bit more, Naruto was trying to find a jutsu that he could actually... use... skipping past more strange and crazy jutsu, he found one that caught his interest. Since he was in the academy, one of the study areas was the history of the Hokages. His favorite was easily the Yondaime.

He was the hero of the village, sacrificing his life to save everyone from the Nine Tails. And he was really cool, teleporting around and stuff. He even almost single-handedly won the third shinobi world war!

So imagine his surprise when he saw this:

 _Hiraishin_

He recognized the name instantly. The famed jutsu of the Fourth Hokage, and he began to drool, until he took a closer look at the scroll.

"It's blank," Naruto said to himself, completely neutral.

After staring for a second, he got angry. "Come on!" he complained.

After a moment he sighed, brushing his hand in longing against the jutsu and where the description should be when suddenly smoke poofed into the air.

Covering his face because of the unexpected, small explosion that occurred, Naruto saw three little, small scrolls appear on the ground. Must have been unsealed when he touched the blank part of the jutsu description, he reasoned.

Unraveling one of the small scrolls that had appeared in front of him, his eyes widened considerably. He quickly snatched the other small scrolls and stuffed them into his pocket before grabbing the first one he picked up and then he started quickly studying from it.

 _Explaination:_

 _The seal works by having two different, two-way connections._

 _The first is the connection of your chakra to the anchor seal, a seal that you either carry on your person. (such as a kunai with the seal applied to it, a medallion or trinket with the seal, or even a tattoo) This first seal allows you to power the jutsu. Sending chakra to the first seal, the anchor, will jump the chakra and yourself, to the target seal, which is the second connection, through advanced space-time seals that mimic a summoning technique. This process effectively summons, or rather, teleports you to the target seal by feeding chakra into the anchor seal._

 _Use:_

 _Simply imagine in your mind the target seal you wish to teleport to and then funnel chakra into the anchor seal and you will be teleported._

 _'Doesn't sound that hard...'_ The young blonde thought to himself.

 _Important! Do_ NOT! _teleport to a target seal that you are unsure of where it is exactly located, lest you wish to possibly teleport half of your body inside of a wall or in the ground!_

Naruto's eyebrows raised in surprise at that.

 _Important! Do_ NOT _attempt to funnel chakra into more than a single anchor at the same time, lest you want to chaotically split apart your body into halves or thirds and so forth depending on how many anchors you used!_

Naruto nodded rather quickly after reading that.

 _Notes:_

 _When you teleport to the target seal, your chakra must be within distance of the seal when you appear, or the jutsu won't activate. When you teleport to the seal you wish to go to, also imagine the position you wish to be summoned to the target in._

 _'That explains how he chose what position he would end up in when he teleported!'_ Naruto realized.

 _It is possible to teleport more than simply yourself; objects or other people. Simply connect your chakra and add the necessary chakra for the amount of mass that you are transporting with you. (This includes your clothes, so always use a little more chakra than you feel like you have to!)_

Naruto giggled.

 _Anchor seals are actually the same as target seals, but only one is necessary to keep on you to connect to all of the target seals. In the event that you lose connection to your anchor seal, you can either make another one using the same sealing style as the others, or you can retrieve one of your target seals and use it as a new anchor. Doing this, you can also choose to now teleport to your old anchor-turned-target seals._

He believed he understood how to do it now, but he was missing something he obviously needed. The seals!

Rolling the little scroll up, he put it in his pocket as he pulled out a random one of the two still remaining.

Quickly opening his next scroll, he hoped he would find the seals to get this jutsu to work. He was practically salivating, and then he saw that this scroll was blank too, like the info of this jutsu on that big scroll Mizuki wanted. Being smart about it this time though, he brushed his palm against the parchment and...

 _Poof!_

As he honestly expected it would. He heard metal clang together, and when the smoke dissipated, he saw two of the Yondaimes signature Kunai on the grass!

Picking one up, he marveled at the craftsmanship and at the fact he was actually holding onto one of the kunai that likely won the third shinobi world war!

Deciding that he had no time to waste, he got to work under the moonlit night sky.

Picking up the other kunai and then putting away the scroll he just used, he set up his surroundings to work on this new jutsu of his. He got up and ran over to the tree, jamming the kunai deep into it. He could feel it slide it's way it, like a knife through butter even.

Excited to continue, he ran about 15 yards away from the tree, and, while holding onto the other kunai he had, he recollected the process on how to do this.

Focus in his head where he wanted to go: The kunai in the tree.

Imagine how he wanted to be positioned relative to the target kunai: Have his hand left hand holding onto it as he stood next to it.

Pour chakra into the anchor he was holding.

"Okay... here goes," Naruto whispered to himself, slightly nervous. Taking a final glance up at the sky overhead, he closed his eyes and thought of the kunai in the tree, of himself appearing right next to the tree, holding the kunai in his left hand, and then he started pouring chakra into the anchor kunai in his right hand.

He took a breath as chakra flowed into the anchor.

 _Poof!_ Naruto was gone!

Suddenly, he was overtaken by feelings of nausea and dizziness and he didn't open his eyes. He felt the grip of the target kunai in his left hand before falling over and clenching at his spinning head.

 _'I did it!'_ Naruto cheered to himself, struggling to get up in his nauseated state.

He opened his eyes and he didn't see the night sky over head, but branches of the tree! _'It's real!'_ Naruto cheered mentally, trying to pull himself up so he could do it again. Still holding onto the anchor kunai in his right hand, he stood up and grabbed the kunai in the tree, swiftly pulling it throwing it toward the academy in front of him.

Quickly envisioning the kunai mid-air, and then imagining himself grabbing it while over it in the air, he fed chakra into the kunai in his right hand.

Naruto found himself clutching the target kunai in his left hand, but the momentum was not with him and he instantly fell three feet to the ground, landing on his chest awkwardly.

The lightheadedness he experienced the second time was not anywhere near as bad as the first time though, so he got up more quickly, only to throw a kunai back to the tree.

This time though, he was going to correct his momentum. He glanced at the kunai traveling through the hair toward the swing and the tree, and he decided.

He closed his eyes and in less than a fraction of a second he was holding the kunai, but this time he was swinging his body upward into a backflip and he skidded on his feet coming down. He was getting the hang of it!

He put his anchor kunai in his pocket and picked up the target kunai with his right hand instead though, and he threw it straight up into the air this time!

Having gotten quicker at focusing, he instantly appeared to the kunai up in the air, and then he pulled out the kunai in his pocket, throwing it down to the ground.

Taking a moment to look into the sky while he was in the air, he gasped. "Wow..." he said to himself, quietly. The view of the moon while he was above the village was truly a sigh to behold. The sheer size of the moon at this point threatened to eat him whole, and the panoramic view of the village was breath taking.

He remembered in the scroll that he could teleport other people with him, smiling when he realized he could take Hinata-chan with him.

When the kunai he threw to the ground landed, he looked over to it before teleporting.

 _Crash!_

Naruto landed a little roughly, failing to properly control his momentum on the return trip. His hands were a little scratched, impacting the dirt like that, but it was hardly what it would have been like if he just fell straight down!

He picked up the kunai again and continued to practice in various ways.

He tried teleporting in front of himself and kicking the air, punching, landing properly. He even put the kunai behind the tree and made it so he could not see the kunai and then he teleported to it!

After another 20 minutes he heard the bushes rustle next to him. He flashed back to the tree and put his kunai into his pockets. While wrapping up the big scroll, he heard someone land just behind him. Looking around, it was Mizuki-sensei!

Looking a little crazed, in Naruto's opinion, he began, "Hey Naruto!" He fake smiled. "I see you did what I asked!" he congratulated the boy.

Naruto smiled, beginning to tell him the story of how easy it was...

Hinata's point of view

I was on my way over to the swing by the academy. Naruto-kun said he would have a surprise for me... I was excited.

I looked up toward the night sky above me, the moon was so big right now... I thought it was pretty. It was actually pretty late, I realized. 9 pm. A frown appeared on my face and I sighed. Father did not particularly care if I was out late. He always viewed me as a disappointment, even if I almost graduated as the top student, I lost out to Sasuke, and Sakura's book scores were a little higher than mine. If I wasn't the best then I was useless in his eyes.

I suppose that did give me a little bit of freedom. Because he didn't care much about me... I was able to generally do what I wanted. I thought of Naruto's face then and I brought my hands up and crossed them against my chest, blushing.

Naruto was... everything to me now...

My face grew bright red as I thought about our first kiss together...

2 Months ago

I swear I was about to faint! Naruto-kun... he...

Naruto-kun kissed me!

My face must have been on fire! I was tucked deep into his chest and I felt so warm and safe... I wish I could have stayed like that forever...

Then he pushed me away a little and tilted my head up to look at his own... Those blue... perfect eyes... They looked at me so gently, with compassion and...

And...

I glanced to the side, embarrassed at what I was thinking...

I could hear Naruto shyly giggle, which sent my heart into flutters.

"Hey..." he started slowly, "does this mean that..." I looked over to his beautiful, embarrassed face.

"We're a couple now?"

My mouth dropped and my eyes grew wide. All I could do was slowly nod my ahead, completely red-faced.

He eyes softened and I could see it...

Those beautiful blue gems looked at me... with... with...

"You're the most important person in the world to me..." he whispered to me in such a sweet voice...

Love!

Present

I would remember that for the rest of my life I was sure.

Approaching the academy, I saw Naruto, but I also saw someone else. Part of the surprise I guessed.

Getting a little closer I saw Mizuki-sensei... and he picked Naruto up by the collar and threw him back! My eye's widened at the scene. I rushed forward and I and paused when I heard it.

"Hahahaha!" Mizuki-sensei yelled aloud at Naruto. "Now that I have the scroll I can leave this pathetic village!" he taunted.

I stared on in disbelief, what was going on?

Mizuki-sensei jumped backwards up onto the branch that the swing was tied to and further taunted Naruto. "Didn't you find it strange?" he laughed. "That everyone hated you?!" Both mine and Naruto's attention was instantly caught by that statement.

"Let me give you a little history lesson..." he started. "You remember the Nine-tailed fox and how the Fourth Hokage apparently defeated it right?" His smile grew even bigger as he continued. "The demon was so powerful that there was only one true way to beat it..." he paused. "He sealed it Naruto!"

I was confused as to why he was even talking about this... How did this have anything to do with Naruto?!

"He sealed the Nine-tailed fox inside of you!" he screamed. "You are the demon!" he laughed maniacally. "You killed all those people thirteen years ago!" he taunted.

My heart sunk... there was no way that was true... was there? Tears started to roll down my eyes when I looked over to Naruto-kun and I saw him trembling... he was shaking so much worse than that day I found him on the swing.

"That's why everyone hates you! That's why they spit at you! That's why your parents left you alone!" He was screaming so loudly. "No one could ever love a monster like you! No one could care for a monster who killed their family, friends, and the hokage!" he shouted painfully.

I choked up with the sadness in my throat... Was that why he could never make any friends and why everyone seemed to despise him?!

I tilted my head toward Naruto and what I saw absolutely breaks my heart...

"I..." Naruto tries to say, but he falls down.

Smiling fiendishly Mizuki finishes, "No one is going to miss you, demon!" he says as he pulls out a bunch of kunai and starts to windup to throw them at Naruto.

Time began to slow down for me.

 _"Knock it off!"_

My small legs began to carry me faster than I've ever ran before in my life as I rush to save him... Naruto-kun...

 _"We'll be the best friends forever! Dattebayo!"_

I saw him close his eyes and hold himself tightly... like I used to do before I met him...

 _"I'd want to be with you if the world was ending, Hinata...chan"_

I heard the kunai slicing threw the air and I knew this was it...

 _"You're the most important person in the world to me..."_

I'll be the one who saves you now... Naruto-kun...

 _Slice!_

Four or five, or even more kunai stabbed into my back.

"Erm..." I struggled, the pain was so much for me...

I brought my head up to see if he was okay...

He was shocked, tears were rushing down his face as he stared right back at me...

He was... okay...

 _Cough!_

Blood...

I collapsed onto Naruto-kun...

I can feel his shaking and it hurts me more than the kunai in my back...

I slowly push myself up despite the pain, I need to be his strength this time. I force myself up and look him in the eyes, those pure blue beautiful eyes I have fallen in love with... "N-narut-" _Cough!_ More blood... I stained his orange jacket... "Naruto-kun..." I struggled... trying to smile. "You're not a demon..." I gently said...

I brought my hand up to his cheek and I blushed like I always do...

Naruto looked so distraught... so sad...

"I..." _Cough!_

It hurt... It hurt a lot... There was so much blood now... I looked back up to him and I tried to hold a smile again for him... I needed to be strong... for him...

"I love you... Naruto-kun..." I said peacefully, blood falling down my sides.

I felt him shake one more time, then he looked at me with those big blue eyes in amazement.

I smiled again... glad I could tell him... before I died here...

"Hinata!"

My vision started to darken... I took one last look at Naruto-kun before the end...

And I slumped over...

I felt him trying to shake me awake, I guess I snapped him out of it... I did it...

I saved you Naruto-kun... like you saved me...

Without you... I wouldn't have been truly alive...

The last image I see is of me and him playing in the park together by the academy...

I felt my consciousness slipping away from me...

 _Thank you... Naruto..._

* * *

A/N

I am really pleased with how this is progressing! Lot more to come next chapter again.

I'm a freak Minato fan, so yeah, I decided to play around and have it so that Naruto would not get the shadow clone jutsu, because he barely passed the clone exam in my story and didn't want to bother with clones anymore. Instead, he get's Hiraishin! I'm going to make it so he's not utterly overpowered with it though, going to flow largely the same in power since honestly, shadow clones made Naruto super imba too.

I'd appreciate reviews on the thoughts of how my plot is starting to shape up, wonder if people like it.

If anyone wanted to beta my stuff and spell/grammar check it cause I noticed I'm actually pretty terrible at it shoot me a PM and I'll hit you back!

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Review responses: (maybe send your review my way that has a question or is lengthy and I will put it up!

 **Flameraven said:** Why would the 4ths kunai drop out and not the 2nds? Seeing as Tobirama is the one who made the thing, Minato just perfected it. I guess Minato could have replaced what ever it was that he had used from Tobirama in the scroll but it seemed odd to me.

Also if it was so easy that Naruto gets it in a few seconds why the heck isn't it something that Kakashi or Jiraiya use? As far was we know the ONLY people who can use the thing are Tobirama, Minato and Gemna/Raidou/Iwashi as a group and while it could be a chakra problem that wouldn't stop Jiraiya.

The point of the Kagebushin is that its a simple technique to do but the drain is so grate that it can KILL you if you don't use it smartly. Naruto is uniquely suited to it do to his insane amount of chakra but he isn't the only person who uses it, he is just the only one who does/can in the numbers he does.

 **Tequoia responds:** The 4th's kunai dropped out because of a plot device that Minato had a hand in. (That's why the info description of Hiraishin was blanked out and there were three scrolls that came out of it when Naruto touched it. I only had him open up two of them, first the description on how it worked, and second, the scroll that contained the kunai. The third is a plot device that I have planned which will have an explanation as to how Naruto is able to easily use the seal.

I did think about the trio that use the Hiraishin but I was largely ignoring them I'll be honest. They are not... a very well known part of the series... It would seem you caught me! As for Kakashi and Jiraiya, my excuses would be, that I honestly didn't come up with at the time of writing that chapter, Minato may have discussed it with Jiraiya but never fully laid it out, and Kakashi was really young when Minato died, possibly preventing him from teaching it.

I'm fully aware of the fact that Kage bushin is sort of Naruto's thing because he has so much chakra, but I wanted to take a creative step away from that whole thing and see what I can do with Naruto if he doesn't have access to that. I said he didn't want to bother learning anything clone related because he was so sick of trying to pull off the normal clone jutsu.

Now, you are probably asking 'why is Naruto even able to pull off the clone jutsu? It's because he has so much he was never able to channel it properly in the first place!' My counter to that is Hinata was there to help him through it for literally 6 years, so he EVENTUALLY was able to do that. Realistically, he may or may not have been able to, but for my fanfiction I felt it was a good device I could use to explain why he wouldn't use shadow clones.

 **Dragon Man 180 said:** Hmmm, a very intriguing idea, I can't wait to see the reactions of Sarutobi, Kakashi, and Jiraiya over Naruto having unsealed and learned how to use Hiraishin. And I'll note since he only has the two kunai for now, it's not a total game breaker. Still, with Hinata's actions Sarutobi better put the two of them together. I also wouldn't mind seeing Naruto use Edo Tensei at some point... especially if he did something like use one of Gato's thugs as a sacrifice to bring back Kaiza so he could avenge himself on Gato.

I do have to wonder if Naruto were to use Edo Tensei to bring back Hinata with her dying breath as the sacrifice, would she essentially get an immortal body since her original body hadn't had time to die?

 **Tequoia responds:** Their response will definitely be shown soon! It'll definitely be logical, as well as emotional. (Sarutobi's to the idea of Hinata being on the team) I just showed Edo Tensei, as well as Shiki Fujin, to show that he actually went through the scroll looking for jutsu. I don't plan on having him use the two abilities. Though, that is an interesting idea with using it on Hinata, but it sounds rather impossible doesn't it? He would be using the jutsu basically without a target and only a sacrifice I would imagine, which would cause the jutsu to fail. Otherwise that is basically free immortality!

 **bhdragon said:** This fic looks amazing and I really love the way you bring out the characters love to see more chapters soon ;) Just a small request, although both Naruto and Hinata need not become a couple very quickly due to their immature age, it would be very nice if you would not portray Naruto as a naive idiot as they do in many fanfics and unnecessarily running behind pink banshees**sakura**

 **Tequoia responds:** My ideology with what you said is this: Naruto and Hinata are becoming really close really quickly because they are their only two friends and they have been friends for a long time by the end of this chapter. (6 years) I used a scene in the Naruto: The Last movie where the genin class has to write who they would spend their last day with if the world were to end as a way to 'push' them together in my story.

On with the second point with Naruto being stupid, it is my hope that over the course of some chapters it gets really easy to see that Naruto is acting more mature than he would have been in the anime because he has Hinata with him who is logical and keeps him set. Still I am having him act a bit terrified about the nine-tails because honestly, if you look at the history of the anime manga, he acts BY FAR the most emotional IN THE ENTIRE STORY (only a couple parts compare) when he is told about the nine-tails.

 **naruhinakiralacus said:** I normally don't like stories where Naruto doesn't do shadow clones...but all the Naruto and Hinata moments makes the story worth reading Looking forward to next update!

 **Tequoia responds:** I wanted to try my hand at having Naruto work with the Hiraishin because I like it a lot, and I felt with shadow clones that would be absurdly overpowered. I also tried to make the reason as to why he didn't get it in the story funny by having Naruto think 'nah screw this, I barely passed clones because Hinata helped me, rather not work with clones again ha'. The big point is I am going to make it so Naruto is definitely NOT overpowered, but still utilize the Hiraishin realistically, and he will not use shadow clones (at the very least in part 1, I might change my mind in shippuden era) And NaruHina will be a big thing throughout the story so don't worry :)


	3. Congratulations!

**_If someone posts a review asking about something or if it's long I'll put a response in at the bottom of the chapter! Check back if the chapter is still the latest of the story to see my responses to reviews!_**

* * *

 **Posted: Sept 7 2015**

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 _"I love you... Naruto-kun..."_

Naruto's bright blue eyes bulged out of his school at the image of Hinata over him. She was staring at him with those serene white opals that confessed her love, which choked Naruto's heart to have seen. He felt the hand she had placed on his cheek begin to slowly fall down and Hinata's eyelids begin to flutter shut with her head dipping down.

"Hinata!" Naruto screamed from the bottom of his throat. Quickly snapping into his senses, he grabbed her as she fell to the ground on her side. Attempting to shake her awake as tears rushed down his face, he gasped when they fell down to Hinata's motionless face.

Grinning diabolicly, Mizuki laughed. "Hahahaha! And that's what will happen to anyone who would ever love a _demon_ like you!" the chunin taunted, unable to contain his amusement at the village outcast crying over the body of the one person who cared for him.

Hearing the person who killed the only person who had ever loved him make such an insult, Naruto's eyes narrowed angrily. Taking one last glance at Hinata, the person everyone couldn't contain his tears. Rubbing his eyes with his jacket, he vowed he would defeat Mizuki.

Putting one hand into his pocket, he gripped tightly onto one of the kunai the Fourth Hokage entrusted to him. Turning around, he slowly tilted his head up to the chunin in the tree above his precious swing. He saw the grin plastered across his face and he growled. He had never felt such rage before in his life as he looked onto the man who killed Hinata-chan...

 _ **"I'm going to fucking kill you!"**_ the young blonde growled loudly.

Mizuki smiled when he saw the boy pull out a kunai and throw it at it him. _'This is too easy...'_ he thought as he simply side stepped to the right of the branch, tracking the boy still on the ground. The academy teacher looked closer to the demon staring at him, and when he saw the child's now red eyes, he felt a shiver go down his spine.

As soon as the kunai went past his head, the academy teacher's eyes widened. Naruto disappeared in a... yellow flash?

Looking to his side, he saw someone's leg coming at him but he didn't have time to react.

 _Smack!_

Tumbling down, the chunin's mind went into panic! What did that boy just do! He suddenly appeared next to him!

He hit the ground on his back, knocking the air clean out of his lungs, but he was not given a moment's rest when a kunai was now traveling right to his face. Quickly rolling to the left, he dodged the kunai when-

 _Crush!_

Feeling the impact of something on his back kicking him into the ground, he spewed blood out of his mouth. _**"DIE!"**_ he heard menacingly from the boy on his back who brought both of his hands up, only to drop them down, _hard,_ on Mizuki's head.

 _Smack! Crush! Break!_

The sounds of Mizuki's body being beaten bloody by the boy on top of him who kept bashing his head into the ground satisfied Naruto. Routinely torturing, neglecting, and mistreating a human, and then giving him a single thing to make his life happy, only to have it ripped away made Naruto very, _very_ angry.

Blood seeped out of the mouth of Mizuki. He had already lost consciousness from the fierce attacks that Naruto delivered to his skull. Naruto was still on his back, laying waste to him a single punch at a time. An image of Hinata smiling appeared to him, giving the angry boy pause. He didn't know it at the time, but his pupils narrowed, like a fox.

Raising his right hand, he brought down his fist into Mizuki's cranium without thinking. He didn't hear the grotesque sound of another human's skull caving in. He had never been so angry before in his life, but the feeling of... mushiness seemed to snap him out of it.

Calming down a little, his pupils returned to normal and Naruto gasped. Pulling his fist out of the chunin's skull, he very quickly realized the ninja was now dead. He didn't feel sick though, just numb. Hinata was dead... and now so was the person who killed her...

He didn't know, but the Anbu had finally arrived for the scroll of sealing.

"Ahh!" In only a moment's notice, Naruto found himself knocked off the chunin's corpse, being restrained on the ground a couple yards away. Struggling to figure out what was going on, he tilted his head and saw that the scroll of sealing was now gone! Tilting over to Hinata he saw a masked ninja leaning over, seemingly checking something.

This felt wrong, he had to get away. Remembering the kunai in his pocket and the kunai still by Mizuki's body, he flashed away from the grasp of the ninja that was on top of him. Reassessing his new position, he looked around himself. Naruto's eyes bulged in worry when he saw the various ninja in masks obviously staring at him. Looking over to where he just teleported from, he saw a ninja in a dog mask staring right back, actually looking like he was startled compared to the rest.

These guys were ghosts! Anbu! He had to get away from them! Turning around he saw the ninja that was over Hinata, looking right at him, with a kunai over her throat and his heart stopped. "She's still alive..." the masked ninja told him, edging the kunai to her throat. _'She's... still alive?!'_ Naruto's eyes bulged out of his head, realizing he was threatening to kill Hinata if he didn't comply.

"We need to go visit the Hokage, Naruto." the ninja in the dog mask stated behind him. "If you come with us, we'll take her to the hospital and she'll be okay..." he said slowly, to make sure Naruto understood it.

Naruto's mind raced. _'She is still alive?!'_ he thought surprised. Gulping, Naruto turned around to the dog ninja, who had actually snuck up right behind him. Gripping the kunai in his hand, he slowly put it back into his pocket with the other he used as an anchor. Looking over to Hinata, he was relieved.

"Okay..." the dog-masked ninja heard him quietly say. He was astounded in what he saw just a moment ago... The Hiraishin... the jutsu of his sensei, of the Fourth Hokage. How did he... Whatever, he would learn with the Hokage he was sure. Glancing down to his sensei's son, he saw him looking worriedly toward the girl who was unconscious on the ground. One of the anbu gently scooped her up and departed, likely to the hospital. "She'll be alright..." the masked ninja pronounced.

Naruto was in a daze. _'Hinata is... alive...'_ that thought put him at ease. Just a moment ago... she...

"Naruto!" the ninja in the dog mask alerted. "We're going to go now," he said, scooping Naruto up and slinging him over his shoulder. Leaping away, Naruto saw the body of Mizuki and suddenly felt sick to his stomach... _'I... killed him...'_ he thought. He looked over and saw his caved in skull and the blood on his fists and felt almost like vomiting... _'I killed someone...'_

In the blink of an eye they were at the Hokage's office. It was late out, but the duties of the Hokage remain until finished.

After putting Naruto down, the dog ninja moved toward the door and slid it open, motioning for Naruto to follow.

He's been here before sure, but now all the attention was supremely directed at him. The tension was thick and tangible, before the aged Hokage spoke, facing away from the Anbu elite and the newly-minted genin.

"What is your report?" he said cleanly, believing that the dog's side of the story may prove more beneficial at first.

Casually walking forward to the Hokage's desk, he stood and gave his report. "Hokage-sama, we tracked down Naruto and the Scroll," he began, faking his seriousness. "The scroll was returned to the vault by one of the other anbu," he listed off. "Mizuki... one of the academy teachers..." he paused. "His skull was caved in," he said plainly, glancing at Naruto through his mask.

Naruto shivered, noticeably bothered by that statement.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow as he looked upon his village, wondering just what could have caused such an occurrence.

"Hinata Hyuga was found unconscious and bleeding with kunai in her back, she is alive and transported to the hospital." At that Naruto breathed a little better, knowing Hinata was actually going to make it...

"Most surprising was..." the masked ninja began, almost not believing it himself. "Naruto used the Hiraishin jutsu to escape from me before forfeiting under the condition that the girl would be treated," he said cooly, despite the insanity of what he said. "He even had in his possession," the ninja started as Hiruzen was turning around in a look of surprise. "The fourth's special kunai."

The Hokage looked briefly at Naruto with a weighing gaze before looking back to the masked ninja and nodding. "If that is all, you may go now." Understanding his part was done, he bid farewell. "Yes, Hokage-sama." Leaving the office, he thought to himself where to even begin asking questions when he got to see the Hokage again.

With the click of the door shutting behind the ninja, the Professor stared briefly at the young child, seeing Minato in him. He was obviously scared, but knew they were going to have a lenghty discussion on tonight's events.

Sitting in his chair and removing the pipe from his mouth, he began.

"Naruto... I'm sure a lot has happened to you tonight, but understand you are okay..." he said reassuringly. "I need you to start from the beginning... what happened?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Naruto wasn't sure he was ready, but started anyways. "Mizuki-sensei... he said that if I snuck into your office and took that big scroll..." Naruto said pathetically, sure of how insane it sounded. "I would get extra credit... and I could pick Hinata-chan to my teammate..."

Slowly nodding, the old Hokage had a suspicion on where this was going. "Continue, please," he indicated, to which Naruto nodded meagerly.

"I told Hinata-chan that I had a surprise for her and to show up at the swing by the academy later that day... and then I went to get the scroll..." It was impressive really, the third fire shadow laughed internally. Naruto then told him how he went about getting the scroll which gave him an honest chuckle.

"Then... I showed up at the swing with the scroll and I waited for Mizuki for a while before I got impatient," he continued. "I opened the thing up and figured 'why not?' and I started looking through some of the jutsu in the scroll when I saw it..." he paused, dramatically.

"Hiraishin no jutsu..." he recited. "But... it was crazy because the information on it was blank!" he said more loudly, almost getting excited for this next part in his story. "I got really mad so I brushed my hand against it and suddenly these three scrolls popped out of it!"

Hiruzen nodded in understanding, more to himself than to Naruto. He had gotten ahold of the message that was meant for him far sooner than he was supposed to.

"So I pick one up right?" he laughed, lighting up the atmosphere a little. "It was a description of how the jutsu worked!"

Hiruzen smiled at that. The actual jutsu is much more complicated to create, requiring sophisticated blood seals and a deep understanding of the intricacies that he simply did not possess. In reality, the only reason that Naruto managed to use the jutsu was because the seals that he was using were his father's... already tied to his chakra signature because they were similar enough. Naruto simply only had to fuel it with chakra. It was almost like he left it for his son as a gift!

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that though, Naruto doesn't seem to know that. Did he not read the last scroll?

"I studied it real hard, stuff about anchors and targets but I got it I think!" he joked. "I noticed that I didn't have anything to use though so I checked one of the other scrolls and some kunai popped out," he accentuated by pulling out one of the two he had on him. "Did you... want to see it?" he asked slowly, unsure of himself.

Surprised by the offer, he responded, "Why yes Naruto... Show me..."

Slowly walking to the desk, he pulled out his other kunai and placed it on the table, and then he walked back to the door and turned around to face Hiruzen again. Naruto smiled before appearing in a flash of yellow light, holding the kunai he placed on the table.

Almost startled, the old man praised Naruto. "Amazing..." he applauded, which perked Naruto up more. "But tell me, Naruto... what happened after you learned the jutsu.

Putting away the kunai, Naruto looked to the ground before responding, "I heard someone coming so I put away the scrolls and the kunai. Mizuki-sensei then appeared and he congratulated me and then I told him about how I got the scroll..."

The Hokage went through enough experiences to tell where this was going. "What happened next, Naruto?" he questioned, needing to know for sure. "He... he started to tell me about something old man..." Naruto said to him, knowingly.

Sighing, the legendary Professor, God of shinobi, leaned back into his chair with regret. "Naruto... you didn't read that third scroll did you?" Seeing Naruto's dismissive nod, he understood. "I suggest, Naruto, that you read whatever is in that third scroll. I'm sure it was, along with the other two scrolls, a message to you."

The Uzumaki thought about it... why would there be a message to _him_?

"Just... read it when you get back home Naruto, I'm sure I am aware of what he told you. Whatever is in that scroll will be your answer, I am sure of it." He paused, allowing the blonde to process this information. "But for now, I need you to continue with what happened..."

Visibly stiffening up, Naruto replied. "He... threw kunai at me and I couldn't move..." he whimpered. "I was so scared..."

Hiruzen frowned.

"Hinata she... she showed up like I told her to earlier and she..." he swallowed. "She stood in front of the kunai and saved me..." he remembered in vivid detail as Hinata jumped infront of him... His eyes flashed tears at that.

Seeing the emotions that were swirling chaotically inside the blonde, he sighed. He shouldn't have to go through this much pain, but the world wasn't fair. Frowning at the thought of Minato's early demise, he _knew_ the world wasn't fair.

"Naruto... I think I understand now..." the old man said ominously. "You said... Mizuki fooled you into taking the scroll so you could choose this Hinata girl to be on your genin team... yes?" he inquired gently, as if he was making sure of something in his head.

Seeing Naruto's emotional nod, he continued. "This girl, she is really important to you..." The blonde's head peaked up at hearing about her. "Isn't she, Naruto?"

A tear traveled down Naruto's pale face, which reflected into the natural moonlight broke even more of the weathered old man's heart. "Yes... I..." he choked on his emotions before resuming, "I love her..." he uttered aloud, to himself.

 _'At least... he has someone in this world...'_ "Naruto... there will be things that you will come to understand about me..." he spoke very seriously. "Choices, that I have made. Decisions where I was forced to come up with an answer that maybe wasn't the best." He looked, seemingly into the boy's soul. "But I made these choices, because I did what I thought was best, for the village, and for _you_ , Naruto."

Gripping his stomach where the beast lay trapped, he could tell what the Hokage was talking about...

Naruto looked onto the old man, and he looked older than he had ever seen him before. The wrinkles and frown were ever so pronounced. "That third scroll that you have, I want you to read it when you get home. It will have the answers you seek..." Seeing Naruto nod, he knew it was about time to end things here.

"I hear... team selection is the day after tomorrow isn't it? The Hokage voiced in his more usual tone.

Confused, Naruto muttered simply, "yeah..."

Smiling at the boy, he would allow him this simple benefit, so that maybe he could start to make up what he did. "I suppose an exception can be made, considering the... circumstances..." He opened his desk, shifting around some papers until he found what it was that he wanted. "Ahh," he narrated. Grabbing his pen now, he made a small edit to the sheet he was holding.

"Well Naruto, I will be sure to let Iruka know of the change to your team," he said, performing his small little grin to the blonde.

Naruto realized what he meant and burst out smiling. "Heh... Thanks old man!" he proclaimed. "Thank you..." he said, calming down a little.

Glad he could bring a smile to the tormented boy's face "Well, you better get to bed shouldn't you? Don't you want to see Hinata when she's out of the hospital?" he playfully asked, to which Naruto quickly nodded, rushing out of the office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi

Silence...

It was something he was used to.

Allowed him time to... think about things.

About the past.

 _"Choices, that I have made. Decisions where I was forced to come up with an answer that maybe wasn't the best."_

Standing up from his chair he walked again to the window that overlooked the village.

This was the village he had swore to protect until his dying breath?

Beautiful, he could easily admit. A worthy cause.

Looking down, he could see the platform where he himself was announced Hokage.

Where Minato was announced Hokage.

Pain suddenly struck at his old, jaded heart.

Walking to the side of his office, he could clearly see the portraits of the Hokage.

Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senjum, his mentors. Sometimes he felt like they gave him a hefty burden.

 _The Will of Fire_

But... looking at the portrait of the Yondaime, he questioned himself.

 _'I should have died that day...'_

But no, here he was, sitting alone in his office, reminiscing about the past, as his successor lays dead.

He made a lot of mistakes, more than he cared to admit.

The village hidden in the rain... Orochimaru... Danzo... the Uchiha... Itachi... Minato... _Naruto..._

It's definitely too late to ever make things right but... maybe he could start...

He found himself picking up the portrait, and behind it was a picture of Minato's wife, Kushina.

Love... was the cure to hate she told him... The one thing a jinchuriki must have. _Love._

It made him sick to think about. Minato's and Kushina's son, an orphan, despised by the village.

But Naruto found love did he?

He chuckled, putting the portrait back on the wall as he returned to his seat.

 _Naruto... you'll achieve great things... I know you will..._

Naruto

Silence...

It was something he was used to.

Allowed him time to... think about things...

About the future...

 _"Well Naruto, I will be sure to let Iruka know of the change to your team."_

Coming out of the shower, he laid down on his bed.

Hinata was... going to be on his team! Hinata was alive! That thought brought him so much happiness.

Glancing at the picture of him and her that he saved up enough money to get taken, he smiled...

Another thought penetrated his mind however, the third scroll. Going over to his nightstand, he pulled the drawer open and grabbed it, noting the two kunai as well as the other two scrolls in there which he already read.

Unraveling it, he got right into reading.

 _Congratulations!_

Naruto raised his eyebrows. What?

 _If you are reading this, then good job on passing the chunin exams! I'm proud of you Naruto!_

 _Though, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. You might be asking me how I know your name, and it's simple really. I named you, Naruto. I'm your father._

...

 _I created a Shadow Clone to write this in the event that I die, and if you are reading this then I probably have. I wanted to leave you something, as well as give you a message for the future. I just witnessed your birth and a masked man had just attacked me and your mother, seperating the Kyubi from your mother, who was the previous jinchuriki of the tailed beast. I'm fully aware that this probably means your mother is also going to die and I'm sorry, Naruto, if she isn't with you._

"What... is this..." he whimpered, horribly saddened and confused.

 _She loves you, as do I. Please never forget that. Now, you may have figured it out one way or another, but you are the jinchuriki of the Kyubi. But please understand, you are it's jailor, you are not the demon itself... You are a hero, Naruto. You keep the beast locked away so that it does not hurt anyone. I know it's hard, but I believe you can do this, that's why I am entrusting this to you. I believe that one day you will be able to use it's chakra for the best and save this world. I am truly sorry if this has caused you hardship, Naruto..._

 _Your mother wanted me to tell you that love... is the way to beat the evil that is within you. Love, Naruto. Be happy and you'll find that you have an easier time controlling it._

 _I didn't want to leave you with nothing, so I am going to leave this scroll and two others hidden within the scroll of sealing, and Hiruzen should have gave it to you upon your promotion to chunin. Enclosed within the other two scrolls is a simple guide to using my famed jutsu, the Hiraishin! Now, usually it would be exceeding difficult to learn, but because you are my son I learned that you will be able to use the same seals as I did! So it should be pretty easy for you to get a hang of. The other scroll contains two kunai to get you set up. Once you feel comfortable with the technique, I want you to try imagining being inside of my statue on the Hokage Monument. I am going to leave you a lot of things to find in there. Just imagine an open room within the statue and you'll be fine._

 _I am running out of time so I'm going to make this next part personal. Naruto, I love you, and your mother loves you. Your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki... I have included some pictures within the stash room at the monument, among other things that you will find. Your mother... was beautiful. She was my soul mate and she was just as excited as I was when we learned we were going to have you... Has Jiraiya been good? He's your godfather afterall. I hope he has taken good care of you. Infact, we named you after the lead character in one of his books! (no not the perverted ones!) We hope you are doing well Naruto. I need to go get things ready at the hideout I was talking about... I'm sorry but I need to go now... We love you and we thank you for letting us be your parents._

Tears were openly flowing down Naruto's face at that...

He had parents who loved him... A father... the Fourth Hokage... and a Mother... Kushina Uzumaki... Uzumaki...

My dad was the Fourth Hokage?

And... a godfather?!

 _Jiraiya_

Of the sannin? What the fuck?!

Naruto was too occupied at the thoughts of his parents at the moment, but he would track this 'Jiraiya' down for sure later...

The Fourth Hokage was his... dad? He sealed the demon into his own son?!

 _We love you and we thank you for letting us be your parents._

 _'I was... loved?'_

He fell back onto his bed, lost in thought.

He was supposed to receive that scroll when he passed the chunin exams?

Naruto laughed at the irony.

 _Sorry I got it a little early dad..._

Something about a hideout in the Hokage Monument? He quickly grabbed one of the kunai in his drawer before rereading what the scroll said. Just... imagine being inside of his father's head?

He closed his eyes before feeding chakra into one of the kunai.

Opening his eyes, he looked around. It was a strange 1 room hideout with a... chakra light on the ceiling. One of those fancy lights that feeds off of nature chakra in the air to stay lit or something like that. Focusing more intently, his eye's widened.

All around him was a veritable treasure-trove of stuff! Scrolls, maps, chests. Naruto started running around in a panic, unsure of what to do with all this stuff!

He opened one up randomly and he saw easily over a hundred of his father's special kunai, packed tightly with small pouches. He grabbed a bunch and put them in his leg strap and in the bag tied to his waist

There was a desk with a special map spread across it. He took a closer look at it and he saw that it was of the nations there were little marking on the map... He looked at the top and it was titled, "Hideouts." So it was a map of more places like this! He would be sure to check some of them out sometime.

Looking to his left on the desk, he saw a small little intricate looking box. Opening it up, Naruto ceased to breath for a moment. There were three rings, a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a Konoha headband. His mother's jewelry... Taking them out and inspecting them he saw small little markings on all of them. Pulling out his kunai, he made the connection! They were marked with the Hiraishin seal so he could teleport to them! He picked up the little heart shaped necklace as well as the headband. He decided to wear the headband with the seal and give the necklace to Hinata later. He closed that little chest, smiling.

Looking to his right he saw the pictures that his father spoke about in the letter. Picking one up he saw, for the first time, who is mother was. One of them was of his dad posing with his signature cape on, another was of his mom cooking in the kitchen, but the one that touched him the most was the picture of his dad and his mom... pregnant with him... He rubbed it mournfully, wishing they were still alive...

His parents really did love him...

Putting the picture down, he looked behind himself to see a couch, pillow and blanket. Laughing slightly to himself, he decided to go over to it and lay down. He thought about how he was going to show Hinata all this, as well as how he was going to give his mother's necklace to her. It was late, and he was going to wake up early to go see Hinata tomorrow.

In the pure land, Kushina smiled to see their son happy with what she and Minato left for him.

* * *

AN

Not much NaruHina in this but I built some backstory for it in the future. I feel like skipping the whole land of waves arc because I don't think it really adds much to the story at all, what do you think? I really like Haku, in fact I was returning to my story I have about a femNaru and Male Haku that I just recently updated earlier today if you wanted to see. But I don't think it'd be worthwhile including the land of waves in this story, personally.

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Review Responses:

 **Flameraven says:** For the first time in a long while I want to see a wave arc. Naruto has killed this time around, that something that hardly ever happens with him still being a raw Gennin on that mission and the backlash could be quite interesting. Hinata herself is both a massive boon and, possibly, the biggest problem for the mission as well. She should be able to see through the mist with little difficulty (fanin 'too much chakra' BS notwithstanding) But that same ability would make her the priority target even over Kakashi, but with some tagged jewelry, well things could get VERY interesting. Haku's speed vs a Naruto who should be able to pop in and out of that dome at will also shakes things up quite a bit. The real big thing here is just whom is the last member of team NaruHina? Sasuke is the one you would think, a simple swap with Sakura for Hinata, but would the Hyuuga ever let Sasuke near Hinata? But if you go the next most logical (Kiba for Naruto or Shino for Sasuke) then you end up with team 8 with teleportation over shadow clones, and if that is the case wave really should be skipped.

 **Tequoia responds:** Good review! So, at this point I'm pretty set on doing a wave arc with the input and ideas I've been given. (Will start chapter after the next) I'm going to mix it up a lot with the fact Hinata is on the team as well as Naruto using the Hiraishin, I think it'll be cool. A good point with Hinata becoming a primary target because of the Byakugan, being able to tell the team where the enemy is. Look into the tagged jewelry coming into play whenever Hinata might be in trouble as well. I'm going to craft two very interesting and hopefully entertaining battles. I'll come out and say the team the last member is going to be Sasuke, and my reasoning is because of the whole Kakashi + Sasuke sharingan training thing, as well as the fact that with Kakashi as a sensei, some truth might start slipping out about Minato and the Hiraishin because of him. As far as the Hyuga allowing one of their own to be on the same team as an Uchiha, that will be worked over in the next chapter with Naruto's discussion with Hiashi about why his daughter is in the hospital.

 **Dragon Man 180 says:** Well, I'd honestly want to see how Wave goes with Hinata on the team, Naruto not having the Shadow Clones, and Naruto having Hiraishin are big enough game changes I want to see how things go live instead of with flashbacks. Since we all know how wave is SUPPOSED TO GO due to canon, seeing major changes is fun! At the very least, it would be amusing to see Naruto Hiraishin past all the thugs and kick Gato off the bridge. I'm very glad Naruto knows about his parents and that they loved him. I hope that Hinata having some jewelry with Hiraishin seals on it means Naruto can appear to sweep her off her feet at least once and sucker punch Neji if he's going for a killing blow.

 **Tequoia responds:** As with my reply above this, I am going to work on a wave arc after the next chapter. I feel like the changes I have introduced will make it interesting and enjoyable. Nice idea with Naruto kicking Gato off the bridge, lol. Yeah, I'm a big Minato and Kushina fan, and I like it when I can incorporate anything I can about them. Shouldn't Naruto have actually inherited... you know... ANYTHING from his parents in the main story? And again, nice idea with Neji. Look toward something like that happening in the future.

 **Yamichaos27 says:** If you decide to skip the land of waves mission, I think you should at least give flashbacks of his interactions with Haku. I mean in canon Haku was the one who taught Naruto the importance of 'protecting something precious to you', the one who taught him that have something to protect makes you stronger. Also the fact the Naruto learned Hiraishin instead of Kage Bushin gives an opportunity to tell how differently the battles against him and Zabuza went.

 **Tequoia responds:** I agree with the flashbacks, if I were to skip the arc. I also feel like though, would it really be that interesting to watch how different the fights are + Hinata on the team instead? I am unsure if it would be that well received. As a side note I would definitely use the whole 'protecting something precious to you' thing as well, either way. Anyone else have an opinion on that on how much they would like to see Team 7 with Hinata instead of Sakura, and Hiraishin Naruto in the land of waves?

 **Galndrael says:** A lot of the missions Naruto went on would allow him to build connections across the elemental nations. Depending on how you go about the story skipping missions like the wave arc could reduce the believability of his connections if you do need them later. Flashbacks when well done do add to the story but showing the actual arcs for big ones like to the wave arc is better in my opinion.

 **Tequoia responds:** This is kind of the other end of the spectrum that I honestly was not that concerned about. Using an artistic license it's pretty... easy to come up with stuff that is believable if it gets to that point. It might... seem like a big concern but in my opinion the continuity with some of the big arcs doesn't matter too much. Some are obviously but the wave is one that I think could be skipped rather easily. My concern was did people _want_ to see the wave arc with a team 7 that has Hinata and a Naruto with Hiraishin rather than clones?

 **Wolvmbm says:** Please do keep up the good work upon such a great storyline as I cannot wait for the Hyuga clan to get involved in Hinata's relationship with Naruto. What if Hiashi knew Naruto's parents in your story ? I cannot wait to learn what happen to Hinata when she wakes up from her blood loss and learns what happens to Naruto. Please do keep up the good work upon such a great tale like this one.

 **Tequoia responds:** Yeah, when Naruto meets up with Hinata in the next chapter it'll be interesting and with NaruHina moments abound. On the topic of Hiashi and the Hyuga's involvement with Naruto, I plan to have that encounter also happen in the next chapter, (WHY IS MY DAUGHTER IN THE HOSPITAL?!) and then they'll occasionally pop up, but generally speaking they won't be that big a part of the story moving past a few parts where it really makes sense.

 **TheSunbro says:** Somehow i feel a little bit sad that you gave Naruto basically unlimited kunais. I think it would have been kind of fun to limit the Hiraishin with limited kunais and make him find more with the time. I really wouldn't like another wave arc. I read to many of those alreay. My suggestion would be to let them go on a different, but similar C-Rank mission. So either invent a new one or maybe you could make them go to the filler mission where there were all these burials with the guy with the lighning swords and his boy. That one was pretty similar to wave i think and would be a nice change.

 **Tequoia responds:** An interesting idea... I'll have to look into some of the filler episodes to come to a conclusion, but I think that maybe I might do something to that effect. With the kunai; sorry to disappoint, I felt like Minato wouldn't be the type to just leave him with so few, and having him get more over time seemed odd to me.

Why don't you give me a good review to respond to? :)


	4. Intentions

**_If someone posts a review asking about something or if it's long I'll put a response in at the bottom of the chapter! Check back if the chapter is still the latest of the story to see my responses to reviews!_**

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 **Posted: Sept 4 2015  
**

* * *

1 Year later

Heavy breathing and some bruises were the results of today's training.

Naruto and Hinata were practicing taijutsu in a small park near the academy. That's right, they were now official students of the Konoha Ninja Academy.

"Not bad!" The blonde, eight-year old academy student told her.

And by 'Not bad' he actually meant he had gotten brutally destroyed by Hinata's clan technique, the Gentle Fist. The only redeeming quality of the spar was the fact that Naruto could recover really fast, allowing him to get back into the fight faster than anyone else could.

Still, Naruto reasoned, Hinata is scary in an actual fight.

It was hard to actually get her to hit anything though, she was as peaceful as a fawn. After a solid year of talking her into it, she actually started to really spar though!

"I think..." he groaned, pained by his sore muscles. "We can take a break!" he punctuated by falling down on his butt and resting on the grass.

Giggling, the heiress grabbed her lunch box and skipped over to Naruto and took her own seat. She pulled out freshly prepared bento boxes and handed Naruto one, which he graciously accepted.

"Arigatou!" the hungry Naruto exclaimed, devouring his delicious food. Sighing contently, Naruto praised her cooking, "You always make it so good!"

The compliment causes her face to burn, even though she's gotten better at it.

They always hung out now, whenever Hinata wasn't busy with her clan. He never liked them, from what he heard of them. They always put her down and ruined her self-esteem. Nope, he didn't like them one bit.

Hinata though... Hinata was amazing! Thinking back to the day after they met he smiled...

1 Year Ago

 _'She's really light...'_ Naruto thought to himself.

She had randomly passed out when he hugged her! It was crazy! He hoped she would wake up soon though. He looked down to the girl he was dragging in his arms and he smiled...

 _'My friend...'_ he thought happily.

He figured he would put her up against the tree and wait for her to wake up. He sat down next to her, thinking about what just happened. He thought she would forget about him! But... she actually came back to him... She wanted to be his friend!

He noticed her wiggling around uncomfortably and figured she was coming to.

"Hey!" Naruto practically yelled in front of her face, startling her awake. "How ya doin' sleepyhead?" he asked her jokingly.

Hinata blushed again at the close proximity.

Smiling that she's obviously okay, Naruto sits down next to her along the tree before resuming. "I'm really glad you're my friend, dattebayo!" he said cheerfully, without a care in the world.

Poking her fingers together again, she quietly responded, "I am t-too..."

The silence that followed wasn't even awkward because of the peace the two experienced together... Naruto was thinking wildy though, as he always does, he glanced over at Hinata, who appeared to me in as deep of thought as he was.

"Hinata..." Naruto said more quietly than he usually does. Hinata tilted her head over to him, expecting a response. Those cute eyes distracted him and he naturally started scratching the back of his head, which made Hinata giggle. "Why did you umm..." he said, almost to himself. "Why did you want to be friends with me anyways?"

Naruto was used to doubt. Behind his confident exterior he was always afraid of what would happen next. Fear of the unknown when nothing in your life was certain was intense. Having something positive happen to him also made him afraid that he would lose it.

Blushing furiously, as well as poking her fingers together, Hinata meekly responded, "Y-you saved me... N-naruto-kun..." She was honest, even if she subconsciously added the 'kun' honorific.

Smiling like a doofus, he instantly replied, "If I didn't save an innocent girl I could never become Hokage!"

"W-well..." she whispered just loud enough for Naruto to hear her, "You were s-so... b-brave" She began to tear up again with such emotional thoughts. "Y-you came and helped m-me... some person you d-didn't even know..." she said softly.

Naruto didn't know whether to be happy, because he was being praised, or sad because she was being so quiet...

A tear fell down her left eye as she recalled losing to Hanabi and subsequently shamed by Hiashi. "I-I wish... I could be l-like that."

Naruto's eyes widened at that statement. This girl wanted to be like him? The loud, obnoxious kid that everyone hated?

Putting her arms around herself, she cried even more. "My f-father... says I am a d-disa... disappointment to the c-clan..." Naruto's face tightened in anger at hearing those words. "A-and my sister, H-hanabi, hates m-me too..." she finished quietly.

Naruto, feeling so sad for his new and only friend went up to her and hugged her. He heard that's what people do when make someone happy. He didn't want her sad, he wanted her to be happy! "It's okay..." Naruto said with his arms around the quivering, crying little girl. "You don't need those people!" he said, obviously angry.

Hinata looked up to him with wide, teary eyes and an open mouth. Utterly in awe of what the blonde boy was saying to her right now. Naruto was creating more lasting impressions than he ever knew he would at this moment in time.

Hugging her tightly, Naruto growled angrily, "We don't need anyone else..." he paused, "just the two of us is fine." Hinata had never felt so safe and content in her entire life on this planet. Melting into the hug, she sighed happily, with a different kind of tear, a happy one, running down her face.

He could tell he lightened up her mood, and that made him so glad to think he could do that to her. He pulled away from the hug, and then he put his hand in front of Hinata. "I'll be your best friend..." he uttered, "forever..."

The feeling for Hinata, to have someone say something like that to her, was positively divine. She looked at the hand he was seemingly offering to her. Her cheeks burned, but she slowly brought up her own hand and joined it with his own.

Naruto smiled at the girl in front of him. "We'll get stronger together! Dattebayo!" he exclaimed boisterously, raising their conjoined hand even further into the air.

Present

Thinking back to that day, as well as all the days in between then and now brought a gigantic grin to the Uzumaki's face. He took another bite out of the bento she made and glanced over to her. He was truly content right now.

2 Years later

 _'This SUCKS!'_ Naruto internally groaned. Chakra control was a bitch!

Another strange, floppy creature of a clone collapsed to the ground, again. "This is impossible Hinata!" he complained. He had been trying to do this for years now, and he still couldn't make a solid clone.

Giggling, Hinata put her hands into sign.

 _Poof!_

A perfect clone... Naruto sighed. "How do you do it!" he questioned, annoyed at himself for his inability to do this basic technique.

Smiling, Hinata gracefully told him, again, "F-focus Naruto-kun!" she urged. "Try closing your eyes and focusing i-inwardly," she told him.

Frowning a tad, mostly at himself, he closed his eyes. She was always so patient with him... and she's never been angry with him... _'Gah!'_

There he went again, thinking about her.

 _'I gotta focus... alright...'_

"Clone... Jutsu!"

 _Poof!_

A Solid Naruto appeared!

Naruto stared on in amazement at his creation. It didn't awkwardly fall apart like any he's done before... He did it!

He did it!

He d-

 _Flop_

 _'Fuck!'_ he cursed to himself. He almost had it though! "I can do this! Dattebayo!"

Hinata only giggled again.

3 Years later

A little before graduation

"Class, what I want you to do this time, is make a selection on this piece of paper I am going to give you," Iruka spoke loudly, so that everyone would hear him. "If the world was going to end today, who would be the person you want to be with last?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the task, an unusual assignment indeed. Sighing as there was actually no one he cared about, he wrote Itachi, figuring that it would be an opportunity to avenge his clan before the world ended.

A bit behind Sasuke was Naruto and Hinata, who blushed and looked at each other, then promptly looked away, both with red faces. They wrote what they were obviously going to and continued with the rest of the day.

 _Ring!_

"Hinata!" Naruto said among the group of students preparing to leave, "Wanna go to the swing again?!" he asked excitedly, grinning when Hinata nodded. They walked out of the academy and strolled over to the swing and they both sat together on the grass by the tree.

Blushing a little, Naruto really felt he wanted to say it. "I..." he paused nervously, "I'd want to be with you if the world was ending, Hinata...chan"

Hinata's head peaked up at hearing that... _'Naruto-kun...'_ she thought to herself. Kami! Her cheeks were on fire! She had to say something though... "I..." she swallowed, poking her index fingers again, "I f-feel the s-same w-way Naruto-k-kun..." she struggled so hard to say.

Naruto smiled, she almost never stuttered anymore, so she's as nervous as he is... Maybe it was selfish but... He saw the way some of the girls acted with some of the boys in the academy... He wanted that with Hinata, he wanted to be more than friends with her. The blonde, blue eyed Uzumaki shifted a little, grabbing Hinata and pulling her toward him a little so they were facing each other.

 _'Kami! Kami! Kami!'_ Hinata thought, her face turning crimson...

Naruto leaned his head in toward her, ever so slowly. They both could hear the bristling of the leaves in the wind now, their senses supremely sharp. Time seemed to slow down as Naruto inched toward Hinata.

Losing some of his nerve, Naruto stopped. "Is this..." he asked with a doubtful voice, "okay?"

Hinata realized this is really what she wanted even if it was embarrassing, so she slowly nodded in confirmation. _'Please don't faint...'_

Swallowing for courage, he resumed.

Pulling Hinata into an embrace, he moved his mouth to hers.

Hinata's eyes fluttered as their lips met in beautiful contact.

They stayed like that for at least for as long as their lungs allowed.

Separating from the kiss, Naruto smiled such a great smile, and Hinata buried her face into his chest out of embarrassment.

Sighing contently, Naruto looked up to the sky while holding Hinata in his arms. He softly closed his eyes, but still, all he saw was her.

2 Months later

Graduation

Looking over his prized students with a fatherly smile Iruka Umino was truly proud. "All of you pass!" he announced to the class.

Naruto bounced out of his seat in glee, "YEAH! I DID IT!" he screamed, happy he passed. Hinata just smiled in the seat next to him.

Iruka didn't even attempt to shut him up this time, letting him have his moment.

10 Minutes later

"I'll see you later Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, as her Father was picking her up for her graduation.

"Hey!" Naruto heard behind him. Turning around, he saw Mizuki-sensei, leaning against a wall.

Faking his smile, Mizuki began, "I heard you passed Naruto!" he mock congratulated.

Scratching his head, Naruto replied, "well yeah! Hinata-chan helped me a lot with the clone jutsu! And... everything else..." he said laughing.

"Haha!" Mizuki 'laughed'. "Well, what if I told you there is a way you can guarantee she'll be on your team?" the chunin asked.

That really got Naruto's attention. " _Nani?_ "

Coming off the wall Mizuki smiled before starting, "Well..."

4 Hours later

Naruto was rushing away with a gigantic, over-sized scroll. This was a little strange, he had to admit. Sneaking into the Hokage's office and taking this big scroll was a bit crazy. Some kind of 'extra credit' that was going to allow him to pick his teammates, so he'd be able to choose Hinata! Dattebayo!

He was waiting by the swing now, for Mizuki-sensei to show up for the scroll.

Tapping his feet a bit in impatience because Mizuki-sensei still wasn't here, he kept glancing at the big scroll that was sitting next to him, he finally sighed.

He figured why not.

Slowly unraveling the scroll, he looked at the first jutsu there.

 _Kage Bunshin_

Naruto saw a variant of the clone jutsu and he stuck his tongue out in disgust, he definitely did _NOT_ want to do anything with clones after struggling for years with the standard clone. He actually managed to pass the clone test, so now he wanted to never have anything to do with clones again. He skipped onto the most advanced jutsu to see if he could snag anything cool.

 _Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei_

 _S-rank_

 _Resurrect the dead through use of residual DNA and the use of a sacrificial body to hold the returned soul._

 _Tiger Snake Dog Dragon Clap Hands_

 _Forbidden_

Naruto's eyes bulged out of his skull at what this crazy jutsu did. He eventually decided _against_ raising the dead.

Reading further on, he noticed a lot of strange jutsu.

 _Shiki Fūjin_

 _S-rank_

 _Invoke the power of the Shinigami to seal away the target's, as well as the caster's soul for all eternity within the Shinigami's stomach._

 _Snake Boar Ram Rabbit Dog Rat Bird Horse Snake Clap Hands_

 _Forbidden_

 _'Holy shit!'_ Naruto thought. _'This is crazy!'_ He decided though, that he would rather _not_ seal away his own soul within the Death God's stomach for all eternity.

Looking on a bit more, Naruto was trying to find a jutsu that he could actually... use... skipping past more strange and crazy jutsu, he found one that caught his interest. Since he was in the academy, one of the study areas was the history of the Hokages. His favorite was easily the Yondaime.

He was the hero of the village, sacrificing his life to save everyone from the Nine Tails. And he was really cool, teleporting around and stuff. He even almost single-handedly won the third shinobi world war!

So imagine his surprise when he saw this:

 _Hiraishin_

He recognized the name instantly. The famed jutsu of the Fourth Hokage, and he began to drool, until he took a closer look at the scroll.

"It's blank," Naruto said to himself, completely neutral.

After staring for a second, he got angry. "Come on!" he complained.

After a moment he sighed, brushing his hand in longing against the jutsu and where the description should be when suddenly smoke poofed into the air.

Covering his face because of the unexpected, small explosion that occurred, Naruto saw three little, small scrolls appear on the ground. Must have been unsealed when he touched the blank part of the jutsu description, he reasoned.

Unraveling one of the small scrolls that had appeared in front of him, his eyes widened considerably. He quickly snatched the other small scrolls and stuffed them into his pocket before grabbing the first one he picked up and then he started quickly studying from it.

 _Explaination:_

 _The seal works by having two different, two-way connections._

 _The first is the connection of your chakra to the anchor seal, a seal that you either carry on your person. (such as a kunai with the seal applied to it, a medallion or trinket with the seal, or even a tattoo) This first seal allows you to power the jutsu. Sending chakra to the first seal, the anchor, will jump the chakra and yourself, to the target seal, which is the second connection, through advanced space-time seals that mimic a summoning technique. This process effectively summons, or rather, teleports you to the target seal by feeding chakra into the anchor seal._

 _Use:_

 _Simply imagine in your mind the target seal you wish to teleport to and then funnel chakra into the anchor seal and you will be teleported._

 _'Doesn't sound that hard...'_ The young blonde thought to himself.

 _Important! Do_ NOT! _teleport to a target seal that you are unsure of where it is exactly located, lest you wish to possibly teleport half of your body inside of a wall or in the ground!_

Naruto's eyebrows raised in surprise at that.

 _Important! Do_ NOT _attempt to funnel chakra into more than a single anchor at the same time, lest you want to chaotically split apart your body into halves or thirds and so forth depending on how many anchors you used!_

Naruto nodded rather quickly after reading that.

 _Notes:_

 _When you teleport to the target seal, your chakra must be within distance of the seal when you appear, or the jutsu won't activate. When you teleport to the seal you wish to go to, also imagine the position you wish to be summoned to the target in._

 _'That explains how he chose what position he would end up in when he teleported!'_ Naruto realized.

 _It is possible to teleport more than simply yourself; objects or other people. Simply connect your chakra and add the necessary chakra for the amount of mass that you are transporting with you. (This includes your clothes, so always use a little more chakra than you feel like you have to!)_

Naruto giggled.

 _Anchor seals are actually the same as target seals, but only one is necessary to keep on you to connect to all of the target seals. In the event that you lose connection to your anchor seal, you can either make another one using the same sealing style as the others, or you can retrieve one of your target seals and use it as a new anchor. Doing this, you can also choose to now teleport to your old anchor-turned-target seals._

He believed he understood how to do it now, but he was missing something he obviously needed. The seals!

Rolling the little scroll up, he put it in his pocket as he pulled out a random one of the two still remaining.

Quickly opening his next scroll, he hoped he would find the seals to get this jutsu to work. He was practically salivating, and then he saw that this scroll was blank too, like the info of this jutsu on that big scroll Mizuki wanted. Being smart about it this time though, he brushed his palm against the parchment and...

 _Poof!_

As he honestly expected it would. He heard metal clang together, and when the smoke dissipated, he saw two of the Yondaimes signature Kunai on the grass!

Picking one up, he marveled at the craftsmanship and at the fact he was actually holding onto one of the kunai that likely won the third shinobi world war!

Deciding that he had no time to waste, he got to work under the moonlit night sky.

Picking up the other kunai and then putting away the scroll he just used, he set up his surroundings to work on this new jutsu of his. He got up and ran over to the tree, jamming the kunai deep into it. He could feel it slide it's way it, like a knife through butter even.

Excited to continue, he ran about 15 yards away from the tree, and, while holding onto the other kunai he had, he recollected the process on how to do this.

Focus in his head where he wanted to go: The kunai in the tree.

Imagine how he wanted to be positioned relative to the target kunai: Have his hand left hand holding onto it as he stood next to it.

Pour chakra into the anchor he was holding.

"Okay... here goes," Naruto whispered to himself, slightly nervous. Taking a final glance up at the sky overhead, he closed his eyes and thought of the kunai in the tree, of himself appearing right next to the tree, holding the kunai in his left hand, and then he started pouring chakra into the anchor kunai in his right hand.

He took a breath as chakra flowed into the anchor.

 _Poof!_ Naruto was gone!

Suddenly, he was overtaken by feelings of nausea and dizziness and he didn't open his eyes. He felt the grip of the target kunai in his left hand before falling over and clenching at his spinning head.

 _'I did it!'_ Naruto cheered to himself, struggling to get up in his nauseated state.

He opened his eyes and he didn't see the night sky over head, but branches of the tree! _'It's real!'_ Naruto cheered mentally, trying to pull himself up so he could do it again. Still holding onto the anchor kunai in his right hand, he stood up and grabbed the kunai in the tree, swiftly pulling it throwing it toward the academy in front of him.

Quickly envisioning the kunai mid-air, and then imagining himself grabbing it while over it in the air, he fed chakra into the kunai in his right hand.

Naruto found himself clutching the target kunai in his left hand, but the momentum was not with him and he instantly fell three feet to the ground, landing on his chest awkwardly.

The lightheadedness he experienced the second time was not anywhere near as bad as the first time though, so he got up more quickly, only to throw a kunai back to the tree.

This time though, he was going to correct his momentum. He glanced at the kunai traveling through the hair toward the swing and the tree, and he decided.

He closed his eyes and in less than a fraction of a second he was holding the kunai, but this time he was swinging his body upward into a backflip and he skidded on his feet coming down. He was getting the hang of it!

He put his anchor kunai in his pocket and picked up the target kunai with his right hand instead though, and he threw it straight up into the air this time!

Having gotten quicker at focusing, he instantly appeared to the kunai up in the air, and then he pulled out the kunai in his pocket, throwing it down to the ground.

Taking a moment to look into the sky while he was in the air, he gasped. "Wow..." he said to himself, quietly. The view of the moon while he was above the village was truly a sigh to behold. The sheer size of the moon at this point threatened to eat him whole, and the panoramic view of the village was breath taking.

He remembered in the scroll that he could teleport other people with him, smiling when he realized he could take Hinata-chan with him.

When the kunai he threw to the ground landed, he looked over to it before teleporting.

 _Crash!_

Naruto landed a little roughly, failing to properly control his momentum on the return trip. His hands were a little scratched, impacting the dirt like that, but it was hardly what it would have been like if he just fell straight down!

He picked up the kunai again and continued to practice in various ways.

He tried teleporting in front of himself and kicking the air, punching, landing properly. He even put the kunai behind the tree and made it so he could not see the kunai and then he teleported to it!

After another 20 minutes he heard the bushes rustle next to him. He flashed back to the tree and put his kunai into his pockets. While wrapping up the big scroll, he heard someone land just behind him. Looking around, it was Mizuki-sensei!

Looking a little crazed, in Naruto's opinion, he began, "Hey Naruto!" He fake smiled. "I see you did what I asked!" he congratulated the boy.

Naruto smiled, beginning to tell him the story of how easy it was...

Hinata's point of view

I was on my way over to the swing by the academy. Naruto-kun said he would have a surprise for me... I was excited.

I looked up toward the night sky above me, the moon was so big right now... I thought it was pretty. It was actually pretty late, I realized. 9 pm. A frown appeared on my face and I sighed. Father did not particularly care if I was out late. He always viewed me as a disappointment, even if I almost graduated as the top student, I lost out to Sasuke, and Sakura's book scores were a little higher than mine. If I wasn't the best then I was useless in his eyes.

I suppose that did give me a little bit of freedom. Because he didn't care much about me... I was able to generally do what I wanted. I thought of Naruto's face then and I brought my hands up and crossed them against my chest, blushing.

Naruto was... everything to me now...

My face grew bright red as I thought about our first kiss together...

2 Months ago

I swear I was about to faint! Naruto-kun... he...

Naruto-kun kissed me!

My face must have been on fire! I was tucked deep into his chest and I felt so warm and safe... I wish I could have stayed like that forever...

Then he pushed me away a little and tilted my head up to look at his own... Those blue... perfect eyes... They looked at me so gently, with compassion and...

And...

I glanced to the side, embarrassed at what I was thinking...

I could hear Naruto shyly giggle, which sent my heart into flutters.

"Hey..." he started slowly, "does this mean that..." I looked over to his beautiful, embarrassed face.

"We're a couple now?"

My mouth dropped and my eyes grew wide. All I could do was slowly nod my ahead, completely red-faced.

He eyes softened and I could see it...

Those beautiful blue gems looked at me... with... with...

"You're the most important person in the world to me..." he whispered to me in such a sweet voice...

Love!

Present

I would remember that for the rest of my life I was sure.

Approaching the academy, I saw Naruto, but I also saw someone else. Part of the surprise I guessed.

Getting a little closer I saw Mizuki-sensei... and he picked Naruto up by the collar and threw him back! My eye's widened at the scene. I rushed forward and I and paused when I heard it.

"Hahahaha!" Mizuki-sensei yelled aloud at Naruto. "Now that I have the scroll I can leave this pathetic village!" he taunted.

I stared on in disbelief, what was going on?

Mizuki-sensei jumped backwards up onto the branch that the swing was tied to and further taunted Naruto. "Didn't you find it strange?" he laughed. "That everyone hated you?!" Both mine and Naruto's attention was instantly caught by that statement.

"Let me give you a little history lesson..." he started. "You remember the Nine-tailed fox and how the Fourth Hokage apparently defeated it right?" His smile grew even bigger as he continued. "The demon was so powerful that there was only one true way to beat it..." he paused. "He sealed it Naruto!"

I was confused as to why he was even talking about this... How did this have anything to do with Naruto?!

"He sealed the Nine-tailed fox inside of you!" he screamed. "You are the demon!" he laughed maniacally. "You killed all those people thirteen years ago!" he taunted.

My heart sunk... there was no way that was true... was there? Tears started to roll down my eyes when I looked over to Naruto-kun and I saw him trembling... he was shaking so much worse than that day I found him on the swing.

"That's why everyone hates you! That's why they spit at you! That's why your parents left you alone!" He was screaming so loudly. "No one could ever love a monster like you! No one could care for a monster who killed their family, friends, and the hokage!" he shouted painfully.

I choked up with the sadness in my throat... Was that why he could never make any friends and why everyone seemed to despise him?!

I tilted my head toward Naruto and what I saw absolutely breaks my heart...

"I..." Naruto tries to say, but he falls down.

Smiling fiendishly Mizuki finishes, "No one is going to miss you, demon!" he says as he pulls out a bunch of kunai and starts to windup to throw them at Naruto.

Time began to slow down for me.

 _"Knock it off!"_

My small legs began to carry me faster than I've ever ran before in my life as I rush to save him... Naruto-kun...

 _"We'll be the best friends forever! Dattebayo!"_

I saw him close his eyes and hold himself tightly... like I used to do before I met him...

 _"I'd want to be with you if the world was ending, Hinata...chan"_

I heard the kunai slicing threw the air and I knew this was it...

 _"You're the most important person in the world to me..."_

I'll be the one who saves you now... Naruto-kun...

 _Slice!_

Four or five, or even more kunai stabbed into my back.

"Erm..." I struggled, the pain was so much for me...

I brought my head up to see if he was okay...

He was shocked, tears were rushing down his face as he stared right back at me...

He was... okay...

 _Cough!_

Blood...

I collapsed onto Naruto-kun...

I can feel his shaking and it hurts me more than the kunai in my back...

I slowly push myself up despite the pain, I need to be his strength this time. I force myself up and look him in the eyes, those pure blue beautiful eyes I have fallen in love with... "N-narut-" _Cough!_ More blood... I stained his orange jacket... "Naruto-kun..." I struggled... trying to smile. "You're not a demon..." I gently said...

I brought my hand up to his cheek and I blushed like I always do...

Naruto looked so distraught... so sad...

"I..." _Cough!_

It hurt... It hurt a lot... There was so much blood now... I looked back up to him and I tried to hold a smile again for him... I needed to be strong... for him...

"I love you... Naruto-kun..." I said peacefully, blood falling down my sides.

I felt him shake one more time, then he looked at me with those big blue eyes in amazement.

I smiled again... glad I could tell him... before I died here...

"Hinata!"

My vision started to darken... I took one last look at Naruto-kun before the end...

And I slumped over...

I felt him trying to shake me awake, I guess I snapped him out of it... I did it...

I saved you Naruto-kun... like you saved me...

Without you... I wouldn't have been truly alive...

The last image I see is of me and him playing in the park together by the academy...

I felt my consciousness slipping away from me...

 _Thank you... Naruto..._

* * *

A/N

I am really pleased with how this is progressing! Lot more to come next chapter again.

I'm a freak Minato fan, so yeah, I decided to play around and have it so that Naruto would not get the shadow clone jutsu, because he barely passed the clone exam in my story and didn't want to bother with clones anymore. Instead, he get's Hiraishin! I'm going to make it so he's not utterly overpowered with it though, going to flow largely the same in power since honestly, shadow clones made Naruto super imba too.

I'd appreciate reviews on the thoughts of how my plot is starting to shape up, wonder if people like it.

If anyone wanted to beta my stuff and spell/grammar check it cause I noticed I'm actually pretty terrible at it shoot me a PM and I'll hit you back!

* * *

Review responses: (maybe send your review my way that has a question or is lengthy and I will put it up!

 **Flameraven said:** Why would the 4ths kunai drop out and not the 2nds? Seeing as Tobirama is the one who made the thing, Minato just perfected it. I guess Minato could have replaced what ever it was that he had used from Tobirama in the scroll but it seemed odd to me.

Also if it was so easy that Naruto gets it in a few seconds why the heck isn't it something that Kakashi or Jiraiya use? As far was we know the ONLY people who can use the thing are Tobirama, Minato and Gemna/Raidou/Iwashi as a group and while it could be a chakra problem that wouldn't stop Jiraiya.

The point of the Kagebushin is that its a simple technique to do but the drain is so grate that it can KILL you if you don't use it smartly. Naruto is uniquely suited to it do to his insane amount of chakra but he isn't the only person who uses it, he is just the only one who does/can in the numbers he does.

 **Tequoia responds:** The 4th's kunai dropped out because of a plot device that Minato had a hand in. (That's why the info description of Hiraishin was blanked out and there were three scrolls that came out of it when Naruto touched it. I only had him open up two of them, first the description on how it worked, and second, the scroll that contained the kunai. The third is a plot device that I have planned which will have an explanation as to how Naruto is able to easily use the seal.

I did think about the trio that use the Hiraishin but I was largely ignoring them I'll be honest. They are not... a very well known part of the series... It would seem you caught me! As for Kakashi and Jiraiya, my excuses would be, that I honestly didn't come up with at the time of writing that chapter, Minato may have discussed it with Jiraiya but never fully laid it out, and Kakashi was really young when Minato died, possibly preventing him from teaching it.

I'm fully aware of the fact that Kage bushin is sort of Naruto's thing because he has so much chakra, but I wanted to take a creative step away from that whole thing and see what I can do with Naruto if he doesn't have access to that. I said he didn't want to bother learning anything clone related because he was so sick of trying to pull off the normal clone jutsu.

Now, you are probably asking 'why is Naruto even able to pull off the clone jutsu? It's because he has so much he was never able to channel it properly in the first place!' My counter to that is Hinata was there to help him through it for literally 6 years, so he EVENTUALLY was able to do that. Realistically, he may or may not have been able to, but for my fanfiction I felt it was a good device I could use to explain why he wouldn't use shadow clones.

 **Dragon Man 180 said:** Hmmm, a very intriguing idea, I can't wait to see the reactions of Sarutobi, Kakashi, and Jiraiya over Naruto having unsealed and learned how to use Hiraishin. And I'll note since he only has the two kunai for now, it's not a total game breaker. Still, with Hinata's actions Sarutobi better put the two of them together. I also wouldn't mind seeing Naruto use Edo Tensei at some point... especially if he did something like use one of Gato's thugs as a sacrifice to bring back Kaiza so he could avenge himself on Gato.

I do have to wonder if Naruto were to use Edo Tensei to bring back Hinata with her dying breath as the sacrifice, would she essentially get an immortal body since her original body hadn't had time to die?

 **Tequoia responds:** Their response will definitely be shown soon! It'll definitely be logical, as well as emotional. (Sarutobi's to the idea of Hinata being on the team) I just showed Edo Tensei, as well as Shiki Fujin, to show that he actually went through the scroll looking for jutsu. I don't plan on having him use the two abilities. Though, that is an interesting idea with using it on Hinata, but it sounds rather impossible doesn't it? He would be using the jutsu basically without a target and only a sacrifice I would imagine, which would cause the jutsu to fail. Otherwise that is basically free immortality!

 **bhdragon said:** This fic looks amazing and I really love the way you bring out the characters love to see more chapters soon ;) Just a small request, although both Naruto and Hinata need not become a couple very quickly due to their immature age, it would be very nice if you would not portray Naruto as a naive idiot as they do in many fanfics and unnecessarily running behind pink banshees**sakura**

 **Tequoia responds:** My ideology with what you said is this: Naruto and Hinata are becoming really close really quickly because they are their only two friends and they have been friends for a long time by the end of this chapter. (6 years) I used a scene in the Naruto: The Last movie where the genin class has to write who they would spend their last day with if the world were to end as a way to 'push' them together in my story.

On with the second point with Naruto being stupid, it is my hope that over the course of some chapters it gets really easy to see that Naruto is acting more mature than he would have been in the anime because he has Hinata with him who is logical and keeps him set. Still I am having him act a bit terrified about the nine-tails because honestly, if you look at the history of the anime manga, he acts BY FAR the most emotional IN THE ENTIRE STORY (only a couple parts compare) when he is told about the nine-tails.

 **naruhinakiralacus said:** I normally don't like stories where Naruto doesn't do shadow clones...but all the Naruto and Hinata moments makes the story worth reading Looking forward to next update!

 **Tequoia responds:** I wanted to try my hand at having Naruto work with the Hiraishin because I like it a lot, and I felt with shadow clones that would be absurdly overpowered. I also tried to make the reason as to why he didn't get it in the story funny by having Naruto think 'nah screw this, I barely passed clones because Hinata helped me, rather not work with clones again ha'. The big point is I am going to make it so Naruto is definitely NOT overpowered, but still utilize the Hiraishin realistically, and he will not use shadow clones (at the very least in part 1, I might change my mind in shippuden era) And NaruHina will be a big thing throughout the story so don't worry :)


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